Airplanes
by daruma-sama
Summary: dedicated to Lifeless heartless. A story about a famous singer from Britain coming to the states to run away from his fame and be a normal college student. Only to fall for the assistant in his astronomy class. Roxas/Axel
1. Airplanes

** Airplanes**

Roxas let a tired sigh as his alarm blared the music from the radio.

_'Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars._

_I could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now.'_

Fuming with the truth the song spoke about his life, not that the singers knew, the blonde clumsily slammed his hand down on the alarm clock. The last few words still hung in the air like rain clouds looming over. He really could use a wish, but shooting stars seemed to be in high demand. Most would have loved to have his life that he was so sick and tired of. Most would have sold their soul to the bloody devil if they could just have a taste of the fame and glory. The problem was that no one realized that there was a high price to pay for such things as fame and fortune. It was why he moved away from Britain to Washington, a place where no one would ever dream of finding him.

His parents took a great deal of convincing to let him leave, after all, it was mostly because of him that they had such a picture perfect life style. If it wasn't for his older brother, Cloud, he would still be in Britain being followed everywhere he went. All he wanted was to go to a regular university where hopefully no one knew who he was and live a normal life for once. How Jesse McCarthy, and the Beever kid could deal with everything was beyond him. He was just as young when he started out and one of the few that actually had fame continue to follow him like a damn shadow, even when he did take a year long break from singing.

That year was his senior year of high school, and probably the biggest mistake of his life. As if he could ever have a normal life now. Not after having his own face glare down at him everywhere he turned in Britain. It was why he had to go somewhere where people didn't know him, where he was just a nobody again. Thankfully, the fame monster and paparazzi didn't follow him to the US just yet, but it was only a matter of time. Like that time he went on vacation with his parents to Euro Disney. Even though they had tried to keep it hush, hush, the greedy little goblins with their soul sucking flashes found them. How he wished that he never was fucking Roxas Strife.

Shaking his head to forget the parts of his life he hated, the blonde got out of bed to take a shower. It was always one of the better part of his day since it was so relaxing. He could sing as loud as he wanted knowing no one would hear only to beg for more. Normally he would sing songs from the radio, but today for whatever odd reason he was singing Disney songs. There was always one song that really seemed make wonder if he wasn't the only one out there in the same situation. It was the pop version of Reflection from Mulan. More than ever it was how he felt now because he feared that if he was himself, that everyone would discover who he really was.

Fresh tears mingled with the water and glided down the drain to be forgotten until tomorrow. It was moments like these that took the relaxing feeling out of his morning showers. There wouldn't come often, but occasionally they did which only meant the beginning of a bad day. The last time he had his morning start out like this, some of the junior and senior college students thought it would be funny to throw water balloons at him. If they knew who he was, they would have never even dreamed of doing that, but that was also the price of being normal and truthfully, he would rather be normal.

A sigh escaped his lips as he got out of the shower using the towel to dry himself off. It was twenty minutes until his first class which was plenty of time since his dorm was close to his first class. He threw his clothes on, and grabbed his bag of books, something that was now second nature to him. Just like every morning he would stop by the campus cafeteria for breakfast which was on his way to class then meet Olette, Hayner and Pence outside the dorms before they went to their music theory class. Olette wants to be a singer, Pence wants to be a composer and Hayner wants to be a guitarist. Roxas, he was in it just to fill some G.E. requirements and figured music theory would be an easy way to go. He was horrid at art, even toddlers could draw better than him. Dance was something he was okay at, but he had read horrible things about the class. So he was left with music, something he actually knew something about.

"Morning," the brunette with two pigtails said with a smile that could break up the clouds. "You ready for that astronomy test we have tonight?"

"Not really," Roxas admitted with a nervous chuckle. It was because they shared many G.E. classes that they four of them became friends in the first place.

"I hate tests," Hayner complained rubbing his eyes looking very disheveled like every morning. Especially today because it was a Friday and apparently Thursdays became the new party night.

"That's because you never study," Pence snickered, "Don't worry, you know we'll all help you out."

"What would I do without you guys?" the tired blond yawned.

"Probably flunk out of college," the black haired boy grinned.

"Hey," Hayner frowned, "I made it through high school and got accepted here. I'm not that stupid."

"Roxas," Olette frowned, "Are you okay? You see kind of out of it." Roxas blinked a few times not realizing he had been spacing out looking up at the cloud covered sky. Originally when he came to the university he applied to major in biology like almost everyone in the US, but two weeks into the quarter he realized that he would like to do astronomy instead.

"Sorry," Roxas said with a small smile, "I was just trying to imagine what the sky would look like with the northern lights. They say that on Wednesday or Thursday we'll be able to see them."

"I remember the professor's assistant saying something about that!" the brunette giggled bouncing up and down in excitement. "I really hope we can see them, it would be beautiful."

"It's just lights in the sky," Hayner argued not really caring about it. "Now the mysteries of the Twilight town is much more interesting if you ask me."

"You mean Forks?" Pence laughed, "Just because it is used in that Twilight saga doesn't mean it really has vampires."

"Oh really?" Hayner frowned putting his hands on his hips, "And what about all the weird things going on there?"

"It's from them shooting the movie," Pence smiled.

"That's just what they want you to think," Hayner whispered looking completely serious.

"I think you just want to see Robert Patterson," Olette teased, "Do we have a in the closet Twilighter?"

"How could you say that?" Hayner gagged pretending to be throwing up. "That crap is for girls."

"Maybe you're a Taylor fan?" the black haired student laughed, "I bet you're wearing a team Jacob shirt underneath your wannabe army clothes."

"We can talk about this on the way to class," Olette suggested, "Otherwise we are going to be late." The four friends nodded in agreement knowing that their music theory teacher wasn't the going to let them in. She was one of those professors that locks the door right when class is supposed to start that way anyone who is late won't interrupt her.

They were running through the sea of students trying to get to class as well which made it feel like a fish swimming upstream. Roxas groaned as he started to fall behind and picked up his pace, but in order to do so he thought it would be a good idea to close his eyes. The only thing he remembered after that was falling on his butt with something wet and hot on his shirt.

"Well at least it is hot water," chuckled a voice about the blonde. "Here, let me help you up."

Roxas saw a hand offered to him and followed the arm to see who it belonged to. It was the redheaded assistant from his astronomy class which only made matter worse because the person actually knew who he was, or not. After all, the class was a lecture class that had a good handful of students in it.

"Thank you," Roxas replied as he took the older man's hand that helped him up. "I'm sorry, but I am running late to class." Without another word he picked up his bag and made a mad dash to catch up to his friends.

The four of them made it right before Professor Caesura closed the doors, but they didn't avoid the agitated look in her eyes.

"Good morning class," Professor Caesura said in her sing song voice. Apparently she had once been a professional singer and retired so she could teach music. How she could have such a warm comforting voice yet a cold hard exterior would forever remain a mystery. Her deep amber eyes landed on Roxas for a brief second as she turned to the white board with music staffs on it. Her strawberry red hair was up in a bun as usual and her half rimmed glasses hung loosely around her neck.

"Now," the strawberry red haired professor said demanding complete attention. "We are going to have a pop quiz. I will give you a selection and you will have to sing or whistle it." Her high heels clacked against the hard linoleum as she walked to the computer she had set up flipping a few switches so the projector showed the four bars she wanted the first person to sing. "Roxas Strife you're first."

"Professor," Roxas sighed, "I can't sing or whistle."

"Pish posh," Professor Caesura replied waving her hand absentmindedly up and down. "Anyone can who knows their intervals and chords can do it. Now, sing this piece for me."

"And if I refuse?" the blonde student asked not wanting to sing in front of everyone knowing exactly what would happen if he did.

"You fail this quiz," the professor simply stated, "if you at least try you get an automatic C. What will it be Mr. Strife?"

Roxas let out a frustrated sigh knowing that if he didn't do the quiz she would be even harder on him later. From what he heard from students that previously had her, if he didn't try she would give him singing lessons so he could pass the rest of the pop quizzes. He scanned the music memorizing it in a heartbeat then closed his eyes pretending he was alone in the room. Once he convinced himself that there was no one in the room, he sang what his professor wanted him to without a single flaw.

Deathly silence filled the room as all eyes watched the blonde go pale knowing what was coming next. It was just a simple little music test much like this that started his career. Without a word he grabbed his bags and darted out of the classroom disturbing the silence that would soon be all conversations about him. He should have just failed the test and explained everything to her, but there was that itchy feeling that she already knew. So distraught over what had just happened, the blonde took a corner quickly not even paying attention and ended up running into someone. He let out a huff as he fell to the ground, his music theory papers flying everywhere.

"Hey are you okay?" asked a voice that seemed vaguely familiar. Roxas looked up to see the red haired assistant from his astronomy class holding out a hand. He took the redhead's hand and got up brushing off some dirt from his pants. It was because of the older student that he enjoyed astronomy so much since Professor Sualocin just had the redhead named Axel teach most of the time.

"Sorry, I didn't see you. Besides, you were coming around that corner like a madman." the older male said with a small smile. "Do you run into people often?" He recalled earlier when the blonde had run into him and managed to spill hot water on both of them. A small laugh escaped his lips when he thought about how he was just coming from the bathroom after somewhat managing to dry himself off from the earlier disaster.

"Sorry," Roxas replied looking down at the ground. "I just had to use the bathroom." Axel raised a questioning eyebrow knowing that the blonde was lying to him, but then again, it wasn't really his business. All he knew about the kid was that he was in the astronomy class, the class that somehow the redhead was now teaching. God how he hated to get stuck with Professor Sualocin. He quickly helped the blonde pick up the scattered papers in an awkward silence.

"I guess I'll see you tonight in astronomy, Roxas." Axel grinned as he handed Roxas the rest of the papers and waved goodbye. "Don't run into any more people." Was the last thing he shouted before disappearing around the corner.

Roxas watched the redhead leave unknowing of the small blush spreading across his face. It was amazing that the redhead actually remembered who he was, yet alone his name. After all, it was a big class since it was the G.E. lecture. Never before was he more excited for the astronomy lecture, so excited he had forgotten about his problems in his music theory class.

**~0~**

The sky was now a dark blanket covering the earth on this moonless night, clouds handing overhead. The only light there was tonight was from man made lights since the stars were hazy with sick clouds in front of them. Roxas let out a sigh knowing that they weren't going to go star gazing tonight for obvious reasons, but that wasn't the only thing that was bothering him. His frustration about what happened in his music theory class had returned after Olette, Hayner and Pence got out of class, but his three friends were the least of his worries now. It seemed that word had traveled faster than a wildfire around campus about his singing, which was a grand total of 10 seconds long. He wondered how things like this always seemed to happen to him when he wasn't even trying to stand out. Maybe it was just a Strife thing because people seemed to follow them around like moths to a light. He began to wonder if going to school was even such a good idea or better yet, taking a music theory class. He felt that he should have known better since a music theory class would obviously require some kind of singing. A gentle tap on the blonde's shoulder interrupted his thoughts as he looked over to see his three friends walking beside him.

"Hey," Olette smiled putting her hands behind her back and leaning forward. "You must have been thinking really hard about something. We were yelling your name and you didn't even notice."

"Or he is just deaf," Hayner offered with a playful grin.

"Sorry," Roxas sighed, "I've just had a lot on my mind."

"Since what happened in music theory, right." Pence commented. "You know we aren't going to bother you about that anymore."

"It's not you guys," the the shorter blonde sighed, "It's everyone else. Besides, there is something I should probably tell you anyways." He didn't want to tell them his secret, but they were his friends and they had a right to know. Of course when it came down to it, he didn't have a choice because it was either tell them himself, or let them find out from someone else, namely the paparazzi. Somehow, he felt that his little 10 second song wouldn't stay contained within the school. It was only a matter of time before someone found out who he really was.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." The brunette brightly smiled as she looked up at the cloudy night sky, "Everyone has secrets."

"Oh hush Olette," the brown eyed blonde said rolling his eyes, "If Rox wants to tell us something then let him. We are friends anyways. What are friends for if not to tell all of you dark secrets to?" He gave the other blonde a thumbs up and a corny looking smile. "Go ahead and let the monster out of the closet."

"I'm not gay Hayner," Roxas frowned knowing that was what Hayner was asking. "Not like you with your crazy boyfriend Seifer." Yes, he really was gay, but not even his family knew that just yet. Bloody hell, he wasn't all that sure himself for the matter of fact. Never before had he been in love or had a crush so he wouldn't know what it would even feel like, but every time he saw his red haired 'professor' he would get all kinds of weird feelings. There was just something about Axel that fascinated him and always left him wishing to see the man again.

"Ignore him," the black haired boy laughed, "What is it that you want to tell us Roxas?"

"You have to promise not to tell anyone," Roxas demanded moving in front of his friends so that they would stop. "No one can know what I'm about to tell you."

"Geeze Rox," Hayner frowned raising an eyebrow, "What are you an alien or something?"

"No," the shorter blonde sighed, "I'm a famous singer back in Britain. I got sick of everything so I came to the states so I could go to college like a normal person. Although now, I don't know how long it will be until they find me again."

"I guess it makes sense," Pence replied with a small nod. "But don't worry Roxas, you're secret is safe with us."

"No matter what we'll be your friends," Olette grinned with her hands on her hips.

"And if that means fighting off the evil paparazzi then we will," Hayner laughed, "I wasn't the struggle champion for nothing."

"Thanks guys," Roxas smiled, "I feel so much better now that is off my chest."

"You know," the taller blonde grinned as he wrapped his arm around Roxas' shoulders, "We could start our own band. That would be kind of cool ya know."

"After college maybe," the shorter blonde replied, "But you have to understand Hayner, fame isn't as glorious as you might think it is. It's a lot of work, very lonely and you have no privacy. Believe me, I've lived it."

"Okay Okay," Hayner replied with a few nods, "I was just kidding because you know we could never have two girly voices in a band." he said in a teasing tone with a jester smile.

"You're such a jerk!" Roxas laughed as he pushed his friend away.

"Last one to astronomy is a rotten egg!" Olette yelled as she darted off before she could even finish her statement. The four friends pushed and shoved each other all the way to the astronomy classroom and all trying to fit through the door with little success until they fell onto each other in a fit of laughter.

"I guess that makes us all rotten eggs," Pence snickered as he stood up brushing himself off. "But I think Roxas was the last to fall into the classroom."

"I was not!" the blue eyed blonde playfully argued. "Look, Hayner's foot is still sticking out so I guess that makes him the rotten egg!"

"I say it was a tie!" Hayner exclaimed with a smile, "That means none of us are rotten eggs!"

"I suggest you get to your seats," Professor Sualocin said with a stern look, "and no childish behavior during class." Without even letting them answer he briskly walked pass the four friends to the front of the lecture hall to set up his computer, grumbling about it the entire time. The four friends looked at each other in bewilderment wondering why Professor Sualocin wasn't with Axel tonight. Not wanting to get on their professor's bad side they quietly took their seats watching the gray haired man connect his computer to the overhead projector. The older man tapped his fingers impatiently on the table waiting for his computer to boot.

"Where do you think Axel is?" Roxas whispered to Olette.

"I don't know," the brunette replied, "I mean he really is just an assistant so it's not like he's required to teach all the classes. Maybe something came up and he couldn't make it."

"Maybe he is sick," Pence offered slightly leaning over Olette, "I heard some nasty flu has been going around. Why do you think I've been drinking orange juice for the past week?"

"He didn't look sick when I ran into him earlier," the shorter blonde replied with a frown. The main reason he liked coming to astronomy was because of Axel and now he wasn't there. He really hoped the redhead wasn't sick with the flu that Pence was talking about because from what he heard it was pretty bad and most people were sick for a week.

"Or maybe he met someone and is having hot..." Hayner started but didn't get to finish due to the professor clearing his throat demanding attention and a nice smack on the back of his head from Olette.

"Now," Professor Sualocin started looking around the lecture all to make sure no one was talking. "My assistant Axel said he would not be able to make it today due to illness or something. So today I will be teaching the lecture and unlike my assistant I do not tolerate talking, cell phones, or anything else that makes a noise. Also, you may not use your laptops because knowing the way you college students are you'll be on your faceweb or tweetter or whatever other stupid website you have these days. So turn your cell phones and laptops off and get out a good piece of paper and a pencil."

A girl towards the front raised her hand waiting for permission to speak. Professor Sualocin sneered as he looked over her punk style, "What is it?"

"What if we don't have paper or a pencil?" the girl asked crossing her arms as if she was challenging him.

"Then get out of my class for not being prepared!" the old man shouted pointing a slender towards one of the doors. "I do not like when people aren't prepared for class!" The girl just rolled her eyes, grabbed her laptop and left without even a second thought. Roxas watched the girl leave deciding he didn't want to deal with this old man's anger issues either.

"Roxas what are you doing?" Olette demanded in a hushed whisper.

"I don't want to deal with this cranky old man," Roxas simply stated before leaving the lecture hall heading back to the dorms. He knew he probably wouldn't be missing much and it was such a large class that professor grumpy pants probably wouldn't even know who he was. That was unless he took roll which was highly unlikely considering the man seemed to hate having to teach in general.

Roxas let out a heavy sigh hating the fact that he walked all the way to the lecture hall for no reason at all. If it was a shorter walk he probably wouldn't have minded, but it was clear across campus which was the second most irritating thing to him at the moment. The one that took the icing on the cake was the fact that Axel wasn't there and was sick. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice someone in front of him causing him to run straight into the person and ending with falling on his own butt.

"Hey watch were," the voice of a man said before stopping. "Oh, it's you again. Got a thing for running into people?" The blonde looked up to see a hand offered to him and took it without looking to see who it was.

"Thanks," Roxas replied, "but I don't know..." his question was cut short when he finally realized who had run into. There was no reason to even ask his question because this was the second time he had run into Axel today. He could feel the blush run rabid across his face as he looked away trying to pathetically hide it vaguely wondering if his face was redder than the redhead's hair.

"Isn't time for astronomy?" Axel sniffled bringing a tissue to blow his rudolph red nose. "What are you doing out of class?"

"You're sick," the younger male frowned putting his hands on his hips, "why aren't you in bed? You're only going to make it worse being out here in the cold."

"I was just running to the store to get some medicine." the redhead admitted with a lopsided smile on his feverish pale face. He held up a small bag from one of the convenience stores on campus to offer as proof. "What are you? My mother?"

"No," the blonde huffed blowing some stray hairs out of his face. "but you're sick and need to be scolded for not taking care of yourself."

"Never thought I would be scolded by my student," Axel laughed causing him to go into a coughing fit.

"First," Roxas sighed, "I not really your student. Second, we need to get you to rest. Where is your dorm?"

"I live off campus in an apartment." the older male managed to say between coughs and gasps for air. This made the blonde roll his eyes as he grabbed Axel's hand dragging him towards his dorm. He didn't even think about what he was doing since the only thought in his mind was to make sure that Axel wasn't going to get worse.

"My dorm is closer," Roxas explained when he saw the confused look on the redhead's face. "Besides, it looks like you're going to pass out right now."

Axel just let the younger male drag him to the third floor of one of the dorm buildings wondering what in the world the blonde's dorm mate was going to say about this. He shook his head as he tried to make his feverish thoughts rationalize about how he shouldn't be letting this happen at all. That was until they entered one of the few single dorms that only the richest of students could afford. It was like having an on campus apartment, much more expensive, but more convenient than an off campus one.

Roxas thought it was weird how close he actually was to his dorm considering the fact that the lecture hall was clear across campus. That only meant that he was once again lost in thought oblivious to the world, like always. Thankfully he was one of the few people that didn't have to share a dorm, mainly because he was rich and didn't want to deal with anyone else. The only thing that he was thankful for from the life he left behind. He dragged the redhead into the dorm before shutting the door behind him.

"Now lay down," Roxas demanded as he went to the kitchen to make some chicken noodle soup.

"Hey," Axel sighed grabbing the younger male's wrist before he had a chance to disappear into the kitchen, "I appreciate you caring, but I can take care of myself."

"If you could take care of yourself you wouldn't be sick, now would you?" the blonde retorted feeling angry that the redhead was sick for a reason unknown to him.

"Why are you angry with me?" Axel asked sniffling a bit from his runny nose. "Everyone gets sick. Besides, we hardly even know each other. What's your deal?" Truthfully, he didn't really mind because he thought the younger male was cute which was why he had let himself be dragged to the dorm. That and he was too dizzy to even realize he was being dragged somewhere until he was in the dorm. but he knew better than to try to get close. For one thing they were kind of student and teacher even though he wasn't really supposed to be a teacher just yet. The other thing was that he had no idea of knowing if the blonde was attracted to other males and that was the scariest.

"I... I..." Roxas stuttered trying to think of a logical reason and failing to once again hide his blush by turning to the side. "I am angry because I had to deal with Professor Sualocin!" he shouted when he finally figured out something logical to say and pulled his wrist away from the taller male. "Now go rest so I can make you some chicken noodle soup."

Axel could tell there was no room for argument so he just watched the blonde disappear into the kitchen with a heavy sigh. His green eyes glanced at the door trying to determine his best chance for escape, but he doubted he'd make it far. His fever was making him feel dizzier by the second which only made his stomach upset as if he had just gotten off a roller coaster. With another heavy sigh he found the closest chair to sit in so he could rest his head on his cool hands. A small pressure on his shoulder made he jolt up in shock due to him forgetting where he was and who was with him. A cool hand was placed on his forehead followed by a sigh.

"Your fever is worse than I thought," the blonde frowned setting down the bowl of chicken noodle soup on a nearby table. "Let's get you to bed." He helped the redhead up and slowly made their way to the bed. When Axel was in the bed Roxas took off his shoes and covered him with the blanket. He watched the redhead fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. He went to go get a wet towel in hopes of bringing down the fever.

Roxas looked at himself in the mirror as he wet a hand towel as he tried to calm himself down. When he saw that the older male was sick it made him so worried as if someone from his family was sick. Nothing made sense to him at the moment and things seemed to be spiraling out of control as if he was caught in a tornado. Not only was he confused about the way Axel made him feel, but there was the fear that the life he left behind might find him soon. It scared him of what the redhead would think of him then and he wasn't entirely sure his friends even believed what he said to them earlier. Shaking his head, he squeezed out the excess water from the hand towel and went back to the bedroom. A smiled tugged at the corners of his lips when he looked at Axel still sound asleep only to remember that he was still sick. Gently, he placed the cool towel on the sleeping man's forehead feeling a strange stirring in his stomach. He studied the redhead's face carefully taking in everything and thinking about how handsome he was.

Ever since the beginning of the semester, from the moment Axel had stepped through the lecture hall door, Roxas couldn't tear his eyes away from him. Everything about the astronomy assistant was interesting from his happy go lucky personality all the way to his fiery red hair. Sure he had met many people and seen every kind of style known to man, but never before had he seen or met someone like Axel. The man was just... fascinating to the blonde.

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts and he didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. It was good because his thoughts were running loose, but it was bad because he felt he was starting to understand he felt so weird around the redhead. A groan escaped his lips and he made his way to the door wondering who it could possibly be. He had to stand on the tips of his toes in order to look through the peep hole to see three familiar faces staring back at him.

Roxas let out a soft chuckle knowing he should have expected them to find him after class to have him explain why he left in the first place. Of course he already knew what he was going to tell them since he really didn't like Professor Sualocin. That wasn't the entire truth, but it would work until he had time to figure out what he was feeling. Quietly, he opened the door to let his three friends come in and hoping they wouldn't be too loud. Well, it was mainly Hayner he was worried about because that boy seemed to have no volume control.

"Hey are you okay?" Olette asked in her motherly way as she placed a hand on the shorter blonde's forehead. "That's the second time you've run out of class today."

"I'm fine," Roxas said batting away the brunette girl's hand. "It's just a crazy day that's all. And I just didn't want to end it with that old crack pot."

"Or he was just upset that eye candy Axel wasn't there," Hayner snickered as he poked the other blonde's blush covered cheek.

"You're disgusting Hayner," Pence said shaking his head.

"Come on!" Hayner shouted, "He is even blushing!" He pointed to the pink tinted cheeks of Roxas with a grin.

"Be quiet" Roxas demanded in a whisper, "They can probably hear you all the way on the other side of campus." He knew his blonde friend was going to start picking on him about liking Axel which might actually be true. Although that was the least of his worries since he just wanted to makes sure the redhead wasn't awakened.

"Do you really like him?" the black haired boy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I..." the shorter blonde groaned trying to think of something that would get him out of the hole that he just dug himself into, but he didn't see any way out. "I just think he's interesting... I mean, have you ever seen someone with such bright red hair and bright green eyes?"

"He probably colors his hair," Pence suggested with a small shrug of his shoulders, "and maybe wears contacts. A lot of people do it here in the states Roxas."

Olette just continued to smile at Roxas which made him somewhat uncomfortable wondering what in the world was going through her head. All of them knew she only smiled like that when she was formulating some kind of plan in her head. Looks were definitely deceiving when dealing with Olette, because she was mostly sweet and bubbly. However, when she had a plan to do something there was no way to stop her. The three boys remembered very well what she was capable of when she wanted to be and a shiver when up their spines.

"Olette," Pence whispered, "What are you planning?"

"Nothing," the girl smiled a little too sweetly, "I just think that Hayner might actually be right about something." Roxas felt the blood drain from his face and a bad feeling in his stomach because he had a pretty good idea of what Olette was planning. He knew it would probably involve going on a date or something with Axel, but the worst part was that his friends didn't even know the redhead was asleep in the bedroom right now. He couldn't even imagine the horrible thoughts his friends would think if they knew even if he told them the entire story.

"Come on Rox," Hayner smiled giving Roxas a soft punch on the arm. "It's not so bad. It's not like he's the first one you've ever had a crush on." There was such a silence that if a pin was dropped, they would have heard it. "Tell me you've had a crush before." There was another pause of awkward silence as three pairs of eyes stared at the shorter blonde. Roxas didn't know what else to do so he just shook his head trying to replay everything that had just taken place in the past few minutes.

"Are you serious?" the black haired boy asked completely stunned. Even he had a crush when he was little on the girl standing next to him. Little did he know back then that she would actually become his girlfriend later and attending the same college he went to.

"Don't worry Roxas," Olette smiled with her hands behind her back. "we'll help you. That's what friends are for. But first we'll have to wait for Axel to get better." She gave Roxas a little wink before heading to the door while rounding up the other two friends, "We'll see you tomorrow." The four friends waved goodbye as three of them closed the dorm door behind them.

Roxas smacked himself on the forehead and let the hand slid down his face. It seemed that his friends knew him better than even himself which was kind of scary since his twin brother Sora was like that too. Tomorrow he would have to call Sora and ask for some advice as to what to do because when it came to the whole dating thing, he was clueless. That was of course if he could get ahold of his twin considering his twin was always busy teaching at his dojo.

His blue eyes glanced at the clock that glared the bright numbers of 21:00, much later than he thought it was. With a sigh he figured he would go check on Axel one last time before heading to bed and sleeping on the small sofa that was in his dorm. When he went into the bedroom he noticed that the wet towel he had placed on the redhead's forehead had fallen off onto the floor. A frown plagued the blonde's face as he picked it up and headed towards the bathroom cool the towel down again. When he was done with that he went back to the bedroom and placed the towel back on the redhead's forehead.

Roxas smiled and went to his closet to pull out an extra blanket and pillow before going back to the living room. With a yawn he plopped himself onto the cream colored sofa and dosed off to sleep without another thought of the day.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, I know I have disappeared for a long time and shouldn't be starting another story but I am. It was originally supposed to be a one-shot for Lifeless_heartless, but now it is going to be a story instead. I really hope Lifeless_heartless doesn't kill me when I don't update it. 'hides under a rock'

Anyways, it this was inspired by 'Airplanes' by B.O.B hence the name and the song at the beginning... the I got sick last week, like really sick and that's why Axel is sick... Don't ask. My life is crazy and I was working on this instead of doing homework...and my teacher is going to kill me... maybe...

Besides all that, hope you enjoy and just to let you all know. I am working on my other stories too, I swear! It's just I kind of got distracted from them.

Until next time! 'disappears in a poof of smoke for dramatic exit purposes.'


	2. Firework

**Firework**

_'Cause baby you're a firework_

_come on show 'em what you're worth_

_Make 'em go 'Oh oh oh!'_

_As you shoot across the sky-y-y'_

Axel jumped out of his coma like sleep as the radio continued to blare Katty Perry's song so loud the entire world could hear it. It didn't do much for his massive headache so he reached a long arm over to the alarm clock radio and slammed his hand down on top hoping to hit a button to turn it off. To his surprise he did and the music died instantly. A groan escaped past his lips coaxing a fit of coughs to follow after leaving him gasping for air. Rolling onto his back he blinked through his hazy vision to see himself looking up at a bare white ceiling with no posters of the universe on it.

_'Odd' _he thought to himself as he continued to blink hoping it would help his clouded memory come back. The only rational thing he could think of was that Demyx had taken them down as hostage for something or another. It would also would explain the radio alarm clock that he couldn't remember either of them owning until its untimely wake-up call. Tilting his head to the side, he watched the red numbers flash that it was 07:00, but there was no am or pm next to them giving no hint as to what 7 o'clock it was. Which meant he had slept all day and it was nighttime or it was the morning and Demyx had set the alarm clock wrong because that blonde idiot would only wake up before eleven if hell froze over.

Axel blindly felt around the other side of the bed for his roommate but didn't feel anything meaning it was probably 7 at night and he had slept the whole day. That meant he hadn't called into work and his boss Xemnas was probably on a rampage and telling the assistant manager Saix to write down a list of horrible jobs he'll have to do when he gets back to work. His only hope was that Demyx had called in for him, but that was unlikely considering the only thing that mop head did was lounge around playing his sitar all day. He hoped that maybe the mullet brain had a gig at the bar and remembered to mention something to Xemnas, but again, he doubted it. God how he hated musicians because of his roommate. It didn't matter if they were a composer, singer, violinist, you name it, he hated them all. This made him wonder how in the world he got stuck with Demyx as his roommate, but it only made his head hurt even more.

Now the redhead felt he had two choices. He could either get up, take some dayquill and attempt to go to work late or he could just stay there sick and hope by the next day he'll be better. Of course he needed money to help pay for food and rent so in the end it came down to downing some dayquill and sticking it out until he got home from his shift. Granted showing up late with Xemnas as the boss isn't the best thing, but it would be better than just calling in sick now.

Axel groaned as he sat up holding his head trying to fight off a fresh wave of dizziness and upset stomach. When he was no longer seeing black patches in his vision, he just sat there in shock. One, the room wasn't littered to the point it looked like someone was hoarding junk. Two, it was much larger than the the single room that was in the apartment. Three, there was a few strands of light coming through the curtains meaning it was not seven at night. Something was terribly wrong, but the redhead didn't even know where to start as to what was going on. He winced when trying to remember what happened the night before which only caused his head to feel like someone had just hit him with a sledge hammer. But he didn't need to worry about what happened for long because the moment the short blonde entered the room he remembered everything.

"Oh you're up," Roxas shyly smiled, "You look like you're doing better than yesterday, but you should still rest. If you're hungry I can make something for you." He held up the small bag that the redhead had with him the night before and placed it on the nightstand next to the bed not knowing what else to do. The awkward silence was killing him and those bright green eyes seemed to look through him with superman xray vision. His blue eyes caught green creating a wildfire blush run across his face which he noticeably tried to cover with his hand.

"Umm," the blonde squeaked and he turned his back to the wide eyed redhead. "If you need anything I'll just be in the other room working on some homework." Before there could be anymore words exchanged he darted into the living room wanting to rip his hair out for sounding so stupid. What was he thinking bringing his assistant teacher here? He had class in two hours and then what would he do? Stay in his dorm and play nurse? Or go to class and hope the redhead didn't burn down the dorm?

"What's wrong with me?" Roxas whispered slamming his head against the wall. Axel was an assistant teacher so obviously he could take care of himself... right? Then he remembered his argument the previous night he had about how if he got sick then obviously he couldn't take care of himself. For the love of god, he felt like he didn't even know the man currently in his bedroom. All he knew about Axel was that he was 23 working on his masters or something for teaching astronomy, or a least that was what he assumed. He wondered what the hell was wrong with him and started to make a list in his head. His thoughts were interrupted when he was on number 13 and someone was coughing somewhere behind him. Slowly he turned around to see Axel leaning against the wall for support.

"Thanks for taking care of me," the tall redhead said slowly, "but I have things to do."

"You're still sick," the blonde frowned, "The only thing you should be doing is going back to your apartment and resting."

"I'll be fine once the dayquill kicks in," Axel smiled still trying to prove that to himself. He knew that dayquill probably wouldn't work too well this time around since his illness didn't feel like just a common cold.

"You're lying," Roxas bluntly stated with a very irritated frown. "If you're not going to take care of yourself, I will."

Axel just stared at the short boy in front of not knowing what to do. Somehow he felt like he was being taken hostage by this strange boy that he knew little to nothing about. He leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes trying to determine the best plan of action, but his fever wasn't letting anything close to rational come out of his mind. The only thing his fever brain was telling him was either he was going to be blackmailed to give this kid an A in astronomy or he was going to be raped. Though he really doubted the latter because if the crazy blonde didn't do it yet, then he probably wouldn't at all. A gentle touch scattered his crazed fever thoughts as he looked down at Roxas who had a hand placed on his arm.

"Look," the blonde sighed, "I know you don't know me that well, and I don't really know you. But if you don't get better soon I'm going to be stuck with Professor Sualocin for the rest of the semester. I would much rather learn about astronomy from you than that old crack pot because you actually make it interesting." The real reason remained unspoken, but of course he didn't want to mention that for obvious reasons.

"You know he is the professor," the redhead chuckled softly, "I'm just the assistant."

"I know, I know." Roxas replied, "But you have been teaching the class since the beginning of the semester and I was getting used to actually enjoying going to class."

"I'm flattered," Axel paused with a sigh as he tried to defog his fevered mind. "But I do have classes and a job to go to. Midterms are just around the corner and bills need to be paid." He summoned what little strength he had to stand up straight and slowly made his was to the door only to be stopped by the blonde who was now blocking the exit with hands on his hips.

"You really think you'll be better by midterms if you keep pushing yourself?" the shorter male scolded. "And I doubt your boss would let you work in your condition."

"You don't know my boss," the redhead groaned not only about having Xemnas as his boss, but also because he was feeling lightheaded. "Now please move. I have class at eight and still..." Without warning everything went black.

"Axel!" Roxas screamed as the taller male collapsed all of the sudden. "Axel!" Panic raced through his body as he kneeled to the floor and turned the redhead onto his back. His blue eyes watched the rising and falling of the other male's chest meaning that he was still alive. That small fact helped calm him down a bit, but there was still the fact that Axel had collapsed without warning. The only other thing that made him calm down was that there was no furniture where the redhead was standing so he didn't hit his head or anything. He didn't know what to do, but Olette would. Olette's parents were both doctors so she knew more about medicine and illnesses than even some of the biology and chemistry majors here. Maybe even the professors. He darted to the coffee table that he had placed his cell phone on last night and dialed Olette's number hoping she was up. The phone rang twice before someone answered on the other line.

"Hey Roxas," said a perky girl's voice on the other line, "I was just about to go get some breakfast..."

"Olette, I need your help." Roxas interrupted hating how rude he sounded. "Axel just collapsed and I don't know what to do."

"What?" Olette asked with confusion laced within her voice, "Never mind, you'll explain later. Where are you?"

"In my dorm," the blonde answered just wanting the brunette to hurry over. "Please hurry."

"I'll be right over," was the last thing the girl said before hanging up the phone.

Roxas sat there on the floor for what felt like hours waiting for Olette to get to his dorm. He had heard from Pence that the 'bug' that was going around was bad, but he had never expected it to be this bad. Then again, he didn't know anything about the redhead. His troubled thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock on the door. He darted to the door and opened it to see Olette standing there holding what looked like a first aid kit.

"Okay," Olette said to someone on the phone, "Thanks." She hung up and entered the room. "So he collapsed?" she asked and Roxas nodded. "Tell me everything you know."

Roxas told her what happened the night before and this morning going into as much detail as he could. She asked him a few questions which he answered as best as he could, but when it came to questions about the redhead, he didn't know much. The only thing he did know was that the assistant teacher lived in an off campus apartment and had a job and was also taking classes. He had no idea where the older male lived, where he worked or even what classes he was taking. It didn't seem relevant, but Olette seemed to find it important.

"Let's get him to the bed," the brunette said. It took both of them to move the redhead, who wasn't too heavy, but neither of them were strong which made it challenging. Once they got the redhead in bed Olette started to take his temperature ordering the blonde boy to get wet cloths and various other items. She put a one use only thermometer into Axel's mouth to read his temperature which only made her lips contort into a frown. She quickly sanitized her hands after disposing of the thermometer. She put the first aid kit onto the nightstand so she could open it without the contents falling out.

"What's wrong?" Roxas asked holding a wet cloth for when the girl needed it. He didn't like the frown on her face, rarely had he ever seen the girl show anything but a smile.

"His fever is pretty high." Olette replied as she pulled out a bottle of medicine. "When did he take the dayquil again?"

"He just woke up and I put the bag on the nightstand," the blonde answered, "So I am assuming some time within the past ten to twenty minutes." The brunette girl only nods and puts the bottle of medicine onto the nightstand as if she couldn't use it anymore.

"Well if we don't see anything from the dayquil then we'll give him ibuprofen in two hours." Olette said more to herself than to anyone else. "But we need to help get his fever down. The reason for his fainting is probably from him pushing his body too much and also from dehydration from the fever." She took her phone out of her jean pocket and turned it on looking at Axel Fair's medical records she had gotten. It was important to know if the redhead was allergic to anything and if her parents found out that she had used their names to get the information they would all be in trouble. But little did anyone know that she was really good at covering her tracks when it came to computers or just in general. But that wasn't what she was worried about, there were two things in the assistant teacher's medical record that really scared her.

"Roxas," Olette said turning off her phone and shaking her head. "You're going to be in charge of keeping a cool cloth on his forehead at all times. If his fever hasn't come down to at least 101 in two hours, give him the adult dosage of the ibuprofen for now. And make sure that you wash your hands and keep your mouth covered, eyes closed when he coughs otherwise you'll get sick." She took out bag disposable thermometers and hand sanitizer and set them down next to the bottle of ibuprofen before getting up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Roxas asked as he went to put the cool washcloth on Axel's forehead.

"He'll be fine Roxas," the girl smiled, "It's just the flu that has been going around. When he wakes up be sure to give him lots of liquids and I'll be back in three hours to see how he is doing. If anything else happens like vomiting or a rash or anything, anything out of the ordinary, give me a call. I'll give you the notes to the classes we have together."

"Thanks Olette," the blonde smiled, "I don't know what I would do without you."

"You probably would have died," Olette giggled, "Oh yeah, I called Axel's roommate to bring over some clothes since jeans and a tight t-shirt probably isn't the most comfortable thing to sleep in. He should be here soon, but it seemed like he had just gotten up. There might be someone else with him who seemed a little more responsible, but I don't know who he was."

"Wait what?" Roxas exclaimed in shock. "How did you get that information?"

"I have my ways," the brunette girl said slyly with a wink, "His roommate's name is Demyx. He has a dirty blonde mullet, blue eyes, 5'8" and likes to wear shirts that have something to do with music." Before anymore questions could be raised she disappeared out of the bedroom and exited the dorm room.

Roxas kneeled next to the bed watching the rapid movements of Axel's chest. He was scared of Olette and was glad that she was a really close friend of his. It was scary to think of the damage she could do to someone who she didn't like. This made him wonder if she actually knew who he was because it seemed that his friends really didn't believe he was a famous singer. He was almost positive that Olette already knew before he had even told them the pervious night.

His blue eyes looked moved up the redhead's chest to his face which was pale with sickness. A rock fell into his stomach as he wished that he could just make the sickness disappear for the redhead. He remembered Axel talking about having to go work so that bills could be paid and began to wonder what it would be like to worry about money. Even before he had become a famous singer his parents were not rich, but definitely well off. He never needed a job, even though his singing career could be considered one. His parents had always given him everything he wanted and continued to pay for everything even when he became a singer. They had him open a savings account and everything he had made from the time he was fifteen until he was eighteen was put away in savings. It was that money that he was using now to pay for college and everything else, but even then he had enough to last him for years.

There was a soft knock on the door which made Roxas wonder if Olette had forgotten something. Slowly he got up and entered the living room to get the door to ask what his friend had forgotten. He opened the door about to ask his question only to stop when he saw two men he had never seen before in his life. One was slightly taller than him with an unnatural dark grayish blue color to it that hid half of his face. The other one was tall, not as tall as Axel, but still tall. This one had dirty blonde hair with an almost mullet style like the man was halfway done with styling it when he left the house. The sleepy look on the dirty blonde haired male gave Roxas the reason to believe that the man had just gotten out of bed.

"Can I help you?" Roxas asked as he looked between the two people in front of him.

"A girl named Olette called this morning," the shorter of the two said. "She said that Axel was here sick and to bring some pajamas."

"Oh...right," the short blonde replied mentally slapping himself for forgetting that Axel's roommate was supposed to be coming over. "I'm Roxas."

"I'm Zexion," said the grayish haired male, "This is Demyx, Axel's roommate. He's not a morning person so you were lucky that I was there when your friend called."

"How's that flame head?" Demyx yawned as he tried to rub the sleep from his eyes. "I was wondering where he disappeared to last night."

"He's got a really high fever," Roxas answered, "umm... did you want to come in?" He felt awkward having this conversation with the two of them standing outside. More than anything he was afraid what would happen if someone overheard that Axel was staying there in the dorm. He could only vaguely imagine what would be going around the gossip circle if someone overheard.

"It's okay," Zexion replied as held up a plastic grocery bag, "we just came to drop this off."

"Yeah," the man with the mullet yawned, "I am just going to crawl back into bed. It's too early."

"Thanks..." the short blonde said taking the bag of clothes. He felt awkward talking to these two people that he didn't know and accepting Axel's clothing. It was like he was a parent that invited one of his child's friends over to a sleep over and the friend had forgotten to take pajamas.

"Tell Axel to get better," Zexion said, "And tell him not to worry about calling into work. I've already informed our boss that he will be unable to make it."

"Okay," Roxas said as he watched the two walk off, the taller of the two trying to lean on Zexion only to be pushed off. He shook his head and closed the door wondering just what kind of people Axel hung out with. When he entered the bedroom Axel was still asleep, but the wet towel had somehow fallen off his forehead.

The blonde shook his head and picked the wet cloth off of the floor before heading to the bathroom to rinse it under cool water. It was still kind of a shock to him that this was happening due to the oddness of it all. For some reason it reminded him that he had to call his twin to ask about being in love and hopefully he would have to good advice. However, first thing was first and that was to makes sure Axel had a cool cloth on his forehead to help bring down the fever. He walked back into the bedroom and gently placed the wet cloth onto the redhead's forehead before heading back out into the living room to find his phone.

His phone was on the floor where he had left it after he had called Olette. He picked it up, went to his contacts and dialed his twin brother's number hoping that Sora would actually answer. There was an eight hour time difference between Washington state and Britain which made it close to four over there. The phone rang four times before someone answered and he knew that it wasn't his brother's voice.

"Hello?" a deep voice answered. "This is Sora's phone but he is preoccupied at the moment with..." The voice was cut off as someone shouted in the background and some kind of argument began.

"Riku!" shouted the voice of none other than that of Sora, "Give me my phone! You were going to say something disgusting weren't you!"

"No I wasn't," the voice that Roxas assumed was Riku's replied in a teasing manner. There were random noises coming from the other line for a few seconds and then there was the sound of someone putting the phone to their ear.

"Hello?" Sora asked, "You still there?"

"Hey Sora," Roxas chuckled, "It's Roxas."

"Rox! How have you been?" the brunette twin exclaimed so loudly that the blonde had to move the phone away from his ear. "Sorry about Riku, he has this bloody awful habit of answering my phone and saying the most ghastly things. At least it is just my private number and not the number I give to my students. So how's Washington?"

"It's okay," Roxas laughed still holding the phone slightly away from his ear, "Washington is great, but I called because I wanted some advice."

"Advice?" Sora asked with a hint of curiosity. "Did you perchance meet someone?"

"How did..." the blonde twin was about to ask, but then remembered this was Sora he was dealing with. It was like Sora always knew, some scary twin bond thing or something. "Never mind"

"So," Sora said slowly, "Who is this mystery person? Tell me all about them. I want details!"

"Well," Roxas replied nervously scratching his head, "I think I like him...but I don't really know how to tell."

"That's right," the brunette twin laughed, "you've never had a crush before!"

"It's not funny Sora!" the blonde shouted feeling a blush overtake his face. "You know exactly why I have never had a crush!"

"Yes, the life of a famous star does make it hard." Sora said with a nod. "But tell me twin, what do you feel when this person is around you?"

"I..." Roxas started only to stop and really think about the question. How did Axel make him feel? Slowly he walked to the doorway of the bedroom and watched the redhead's sleeping figure. He had been show upset when he found out the redhead was sick and even know he was upset about it. He wished that there was something he could do to just take all of Axel's pain away so he wouldn't have to suffer. But it was more than just that, he wanted to get to know Axel and for Axel to get to know him. He wanted to be the one to make the redhead smile and make sure nothing bad ever happened to him.

"Roxasssss" Sora whined, "are you still there?"

"Yes, I'm still here," the blonde replied, his blue eyes never leaving Axel's sleeping form.

"Well?"

"He makes me feel nervous, but excited every time I'm around him." Roxas admitted softly, "When I found out he was sick I got so upset because I felt like I wasn't able to protect him even though we don't know each other really well. When I watch him sleep, I can't take my eyes off of him..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sora interrupted, "What do you mean when you watch him sleep? Is he there now? Where are you? You haven't..."

"No!" the blonde yelled, "I was walking back from class and ran into him. He looked like he was about to pass out so I brought him to my dorm because it was closer. I've been taking care of him since last night, that is it!"

"Okay, okay," the brunette sighed, "Just making sure. So let me get this straight. He just let you take him to your dorm without an argument?"

"Well..." Roxas sighed, "We did argue a bit about if he was well enough to go to work this morning and last night I think it was about if he could make it to his apartment or not without passing out. He's asleep right now in my bed with a really high fever after passing out this morning during our argument."

"This has to be one of the most awkward situations," Sora said as he tried to imagine everything described to him happening. "My only advice for you right now is to hope that when he wakes up he doesn't think you're crazy. I mean..." Roxas was no longer listening to his brother because Axel was starting to stir meaning he was probably about to wake up.

"I have to go," the blonde twin said, "I'll call you back. Bye." He hung up his phone and approached the bed as if he was approaching an injured animal. He was afraid to frighten the redhead like he did earlier and the last thing he wanted was for Axel to think he was some crazy person.

Axel slowly opened his eyes to see nothing but the blurry image of someone standing close by. He felt so weak and almost every muscle in his body seemed to be on strike because none of them wanted to move. Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath and regretted it as the air irritated his throat causing him to cough.

Roxas ran off to the kitchen to get a plastic up with water for Axel in hopes to help the coughing and bring the fever down. When he returned to the bedroom Axel was just laying on his side trying to battle the harsh coughs that continuously came. He went to the side of the bed with the glass of water in his hands.

"I brought some water," Roxas said softly, "It will help. Are you strong enough to sit up?"

Axel opened his eyes to look at the blurry figure standing over him only to close them again and shake his head. He heard a sigh from above then two gently hands helping him sit up. A glass was placed on his lips, but he could only drink a little before he started to cough. However, the person was patient and when he stopped coughing placed the glass back on his lips so he could drink the rest of it. Roxas placed the glass on the nightstand and helped the redhead lay back down.

"Demyx and Zexion brought some pajamas over for you," Roxas said softly, "Did you want to change into them? They'll be more comfortable than what you're wearing now."

"No," Axel whispered so softly that is hardly audible.

Roxas let out a sigh as he picked up the discarded hand towel from the floor and took it back to the bathroom once again to rinse it. He hoped that Axel's fever would go down soon so he could get better, but it has only gotten worse since yesterday. He squeezed the excess water out of the hand towel and once again returned to the bedroom. When he approached the bed, he realized that Axel was asleep again...or it looked like he was asleep again. He wiped away some sweat from Axel's face before placing it back on his forehead. That was when he noticed the marks underneath Axel's eyes that he mistakenly thought were birthmarks were actually tattoos.

Roxas gently traced the upside down looking tear drops with his index finger, then slowly moved up to the curved arches of his brows, memorizing the exact way curved. It wasn't until his finger reached the redhead's lips did he realize what he was doing and instantly removed his hand as if the touch burned him. He felt guilty for touching Axel like that without permission, but at the same time he couldn't squash the rising urge to continue. In fear that he couldn't contain himself he got up to leave only to have a firm hand grab hold of his wrist preventing him from leaving. His blue eyes looked back to see the sleeping redhead's large hand wrapped firmly around his small wrist.

The blonde tried to free his wrist in vain for the redhead's grip was too strong even if he was extremely ill. A frustrated sigh escaped his lips as he sat down on the floor with his right arm resting on the bed unknowingly held captive by the sleeping Axel. There was no way he was going to go anywhere so he leaned against the nightstand and shut his eyes falling victim to sleep without even trying.

**~0~**

Roxas was awakened by a sudden shaking and bolted straight up into someone. He let out a groan as he held the back of his head, realizing that his wrist was still prisoner to Axel's hand.

"Owww," whined Olette as she rubbed her nose thankful that nothing was broken. "I said I would be back in three hours to check on Axel. Don't tell me you're sick too. You made sure to cover you face when he coughed right?"

"No I'm not sick and yes," Roxas groaned as he looked over at his brunette friend, "I just fell asleep. How did you get in?"

"The window." the girl smiled as if it was nothing. "I was knocking on your door forever and got worried so I went around and climbed the tree. Thankfully you're window was open. How's Axel doing?"

"He woke up and I gave him some water," the blonde replied really not wanting to know about the window, "Then he fell back asleep and took my wrist captive." He held up his wrist with Axel's hand around it as proof he wasn't lying. She let out a bubbly giggle shaking her head as she grabbed one of the disposable thermometers from the nightstand. She put on in the redhead's mouth and waited for it to finish taking his temperature. When it was ready she pulled it out to examine it and nodded in approval.

"It seems his fever is going down," Olette smiled as she disposed of the thermometer in the nearby trash can and sanitized her hands. "How has his coughing been?"

"Umm..." Roxas frowned trying to think of how to describe coughing. "He has been coughing quite a bit, but then it will stop for a while." He watched her take out a stethoscope from her backpack, putting the top part into her ears and the other part under Axel's shirt onto his chest. She stood there listening for a moment before moving it to the right, then back to the left.

"His lungs sound fine which is good. It means he isn't getting pneumonia." the brunette stated with a nod of approval. She put the stethoscope back into her backpack and removed one of things doctors stick in a person's ear (don't know what it is called and too lazy to look it up). Quickly she placed a protective disposable cover over it and tilted Axel's head to the side. She checked his right ear first then his left ear before disposing of the cover and sanitizing her hands again.

"His ears are clear," Olette sighed with relief. Then pressed two fingers against the redhead's cheeks just beneath his eye again nodding in approval. "Good, it seems his sinus' aren't clogged. When he wakes up, have him take this instead of the ibuprofen." She took another bottle out of her bag that the label was ripped off of and put the ibuprofen back in her bag.

"What is this?" Roxas asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Just trust me," the brunette sighed with a sad expression plaguing her face.

"What aren't you telling me?" the blonde frowned. There was something bad that she knew and wasn't telling him which made him angry, but above all scared.

"I can't!" Olette sharply stated as she clenched her fists and stormed out of the room.

Roxas was so upset that he managed to rip his wrist free and storm into the room after the brunette. He found her just looking out the window with her chin resting on her arms. She looked over to the blonde when he entered the room then looked away with a frustrated expression. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulders hoping that it would help relax her.

"Olette," Roxas said softly, "What is wrong?"

"It's nothing Roxas," Olette sighed, "I'm just over reacting because of what I saw in his medical records."

"What did you see?" the blonde asked a bit worried since Olette was acting so strangely.

"I can't tell you," the girl smiled, "those files are confidential."

"And you have the right to look at them?" Roxas asked knowing she probably didn't have the right.

"I had to make sure he wasn't allergic to anything and a bunch of other stuff." Olette argued with a small shrug. He was about to argue with her some more when there was a loud knock at the door.

"Olette!" Hayner yelled from the other side, "Hurry up or I'm going to drop everything!" The brunette ran to the door and opened it only to smack the taller blonde across the back of his head. "Owww!" He protested almost dropping the boxes he was carrying.

"Shut up!" Olette growled, "I told you Axel was asleep in the other room. We don't need you're loud mouth to wake him up since he needs to rest!"

"Sorrrrryyyy," Hayner replied softly as he entered the dorm with Pence behind him with soda cups and a bag.

"We brought lunch," Pence said with a smile as he set the drinks and bag down carefully on the table.

"Awesome," the brunette girl smiled as she shut the door then running over and giving the black haired boy a small peck on the lips. "Just in time because I'm starving!"

"What's going on?" Roxas asked, but not really needing to. It was more than obvious that his friends brought lunch and were planning on eating it in the dorm with him until they had to go to their next class.

"Eating lunch, duh!" Hayner retorted while he rolled his eyes and started to take out the food that was in the boxes. "We got japanese food from that one place a few blocks away."

"Do you know how hard it is to keep the udon from going everywhere with Hayner driving?" Pence asked with a frustrated sigh as he shook his head. "I thought the udon was going to be all over me by the time we got to campus."

"My driving isn't that bad!" the taller blonde argued with hands on his hips.

"Quiet!" Olette demanded smacking both of the arguing boys on the back of their heads. "How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Sorry," they said together.

"Look Rox," Pence smiled as he pulled out a box from the bag, "We even got you gyoza."

"Thanks," Roxas chuckled softly as he walked over to the coffee table where his friends were setting everything up. That's when he noticed that there were five bowls of udon and five soda cups. "I hope Axel is feeling up to eating this otherwise it won't taste as good if I have to reheat it."

"Don't worry," the brunette girl said with a smile, "I'll go give it to him. I need to ask him a few things anyways to make sure he is doing better." She picked up one of the bowls of udon along with chopsticks and a spoon before heading to the bedroom and closing the door. The three boys all stared at the door with confused expressions. Only the shorter blonde knew that she was probably going to ask Axel about what she found in his medical records.

"Well, lets dig in!" Hayner announced as he picked up a fork to start eating the noodles out of the udon. He had learned not to even attempt to use chopsticks because he can't and is too stubborn to learn how to.

"We should wait for Olette," Pence said as he shook his head at Hayner's impoliteness.

"She won't mind," Hayner laughed as he opened one of the boxes from the bag and stabbed a california roll with fork. He then proceeded to shove it completely in his mouth like some kind of savage.

"I think I just lost my appetite..." Roxas admitted with a disgusted look on his face. However, Hayner's savage eating habits wasn't the reason for his loss of appetite, that he was used to. He wasn't hungry because he was afraid that Axel's illness was worse that just the flu and Olette's strange behaviors only seemed to prove it. His blue eyes just watched the bedroom door waiting for Olette to come out, but it was a good five to ten minutes until she finally came out with an empty udon bowl that she tossed into the trash. She then proceeded to wash her hands before skipping over to the group with a bright smile on her face.

"He's awake if you want to talk to him," Olette smiled almost shooing Roxas out of the living room to the now open door of the bedroom.

Roxas nodded and proceeded to the bedroom a little nervous as to what the redhead was going to say to him. He hoped Axel wasn't mad at him for Olette knowing about whatever it was she knew about. Or for the fact that he dragged the redhead here without even giving him the option. There were so many reasons for him to be nervous that him mind seemed as if it was going to explode at any second. His eyes were downcast as he walked into the room and closed the door behind him to block out the loud shouting of Hayner. There was silence in the room, so still that it seemed there wasn't any air inside. Slowly he looked up to see Axel on his side just staring off into nothing with a somewhat irritated, somewhat sad expression on his face. He vaguely noted that the redhead was now in sweats and a baggy shirt now instead of his ripped jeans and tight t-shirt.

"How are you feeling?" Roxas asked in a soft voice, so soft he wasn't even sure Axel heard him until his green eyes looked over.

"A little better..." Axel replied looking back to nothing in particular. "At least the fever is down for now."

"Look..." the blonde said hesitantly, "I'm sorry for dragging you here and everything. I just was really worried about you. You looked like death last night."

"It's okay..." the redhead sighed, "and thank you..."

"You're welcome," Roxas smiled feeling a blush spread across his face.

"I'll only stay here for one more night," Axel said softly, "By tomorrow I should be well enough to go back to my apartment, but you're friend said that I should rest for at least another two days."

"Hey," the younger male said softly, "You can stay as long as it takes for you to get better, it doesn't matter. And if you're worried about paying bills and what not, I can pay them for you for the month. All that matters is that you get better."

"What are you trying to be? The good Christian or something?" the redhead laughed softly before going into a fit of coughs.

"I'm Atheist actually." Roxas admitted with a uneven chuckle. "I just... I don't know."

"It's okay, don't worry about it." Axel yawned feeling the sickness take over again causing him to become drowsy. He already knew why the blonde had helped him because the brunette girl had mentioned it. She had also told him that if he did anything to hurt Roxas that she would personally make his life a living hell. Not that it wasn't already most of the time, but he was sure that she could and would make it worse. However, despite the fact that he already knew that the blonde had a crush on him, he felt that it was the blonde's job to tell him. Of course he could never be with the blonde for many different reasons, but he hoped that the blonde's crush would just pass.

"I'll let you sleep," the blonde said softly, "We can talk later." He opened the door to leave and closed it behind him wishing he had told the redhead what he was really feeling. His three friends were already starting to clean up because they had class in thirty minutes, which he wouldn't be attending because he was going to take care of Axel for the day.

"I put your food in the fridge," Olette smiled as she wiped down the coffee table while Pence and Hayner were throwing everything away.

"Thanks," Roxas said returning the smile. "You guys are the best."

"Of course we are," Hayner beamed, "Just be sure to start dating Axel once he's better."

"He's kidding Roxas," Pence chuckled, "Just take your time. Get to know him a little bit before you start dating him."

"Both of you shut up," the brunette girl scolded, "He just needs to do whatever feels right to him. Besides, we better hurry or else we'll be late for class." The three of them grabbed their backpacks before scrabbling to the door saying goodbye and disappearing as the door closed behind them.

Roxas sat on the sofa debating on what to do with his somewhat free day. He could call Sora back since he had hung up rather abruptly, but it was almost nine in Britain, way past Sora's 'bedtime'. So calling Sora was out of the question. He could always work on homework, but that didn't really appeal to him at the moment and it wasn't like it was going to take him that long to do anyways. There was always the option of watching television, which wasn't all that appealing either, but he figured he could turn it on as background noise until he figured out something better. Finding the controller, he hit the power button and then turned down the volume to five so he wouldn't disturb Axel.

It was just the local news that popped on talking about the five day forecast would be rain and what was going on within Washington. It was mostly just stupid things that American news stations talk about, not even talking about international issues that were going on. He found it so odd that rarely the news in America would talk about international issues unless it involved the United States somehow. Whatever, he read the British newspapers online so it didn't really matter to him.

His blue eyes eventually ended up landing on the bedroom door and he wondered how Axel was doing. He also now found it odd that Olette hadn't given him any instructions as to what to do to help the redhead get better. Which meant that the redhead was probably just getting better or there was no way of him getting better. He shook his head to try and dislodge such pessimistic thoughts because the facts were that Axel was getting better and that there was something that happened in the past that had made Olette worry. Crap. He had wanted to distract himself to thinking about all of this, but alas it didn't seem to work.

Quietly and slowly, Roxas made his way to the door and opened it. He figured he would just keep an eye on Axel since it was far more entertaining than anything else he could think of. He walked over to the bed and gently placed his hand on Axel's forehead surprised to feel that the fever was back. Panicking he darted to the bathroom to get a wet cloth and back to the bedroom to place it on the redhead's head. Something wasn't right, but he didn't know what.

Roxas ran out to the living room to get his phone and dialed Olette's number hoping she would answer even though she was in class. It went straight to voicemail after the first ring which meant she ignore his call. He was about to be furious with the girl until his phone chimed saying he received a text message.

'_What's wrong?'_ Olette asked in the text message.

_'Axel's fever is back. What do I do?'_ Roxas replied feeling like a worried mother that rushes her child to the doctors just because of a high fever.

_'Do he have any other symptoms other than the fever and coughing?'_ Olette's reply asked.

Roxas went back into the bedroom to check to see if anything was different than before. Nothing seemed different, the cough sounded the same, the fever was the same.

_'No,'_ Roxas replied after watching Axel for a few minutes to makes sure nothing changed.

_'Just do what I told you to do to help bring his fever down. His fever will be off and on all day so just keep an eye on him. I will check on him every few hours to make sure nothing is getting worse and to make sure he is taking the medicine. Don't worry Roxas.'_ Olette replied.

Roxas let out a tired sigh as he continued to watch Axel battle it out with the flu and right now, it looked like the flu was winning. Never before had he felt so helpless and it was frustrating. Throughout the rest of the day he watched the fever come and go with Olette dropping in every so often to check to make sure nothing else was getting worse.

When night finally came around he was so tired that he fell asleep right next to the bed in a chair he brought into the room. His head gently resting on the bed itself with the rest of his body still in the chair. His hand holding Axel's with their fingers laced together.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, first off, please forgive the ending. XD I know it seemed rushed but I promise it will get better in the next chapter, whenever I can post it. I have a midterm on monday, then tuesday and an essay due on thursday. That doesn't even included everything else.

I bet you guys can't guess what is wrong with Axel. XD hahahahaha. And I have no idea why I made Olette like super smart full of awesomeness, but I did. X3 hehe

I hope there is enough action in this chapter, there is definitely going to be more in the next...I am debating a few possibilities. I think I have four in mind and just trying to figure out what will work best or if I should use another one later... but I do know one thing will happen and it will make everyone awkward...mainly Roxas... X3 but that won't be until chapter four maybe... bwahahaha

I hope you enjoy the chapter. XD It is longer than the previous one. hahahaha

*laughs like a crazy person and disappears into the sunset.*


	3. Would you Hold it Against Me?

**A/N: Okay, no thanks to my friend who threw a bachelorette party at a strip club I changed the rating to M just to be safe. There is nothing graphic graphic, just pole dancing, but again, to be safe I changed it to an M. And for the record, pole dancing is very very hard to do and takes a great deal of strength and talent. My friend who is getting married is one and wanted us to try it and let us just say that I failed epically. Anyways...I really hate my friend right now for corrupting my mind while in the middle of writing this chapter. So just a heads up. :)**

* * *

**Would You Hold it Against Me?**

_The young boy's bright green eyes sparkled with happiness. Today was the day. It was winter vacation and time for the yearly family camping trip. Excitement bubbled over as he began bouncing up and down with his younger sister following his example. He wasn't always this excited, but this year was different. It had been months since he had seen his older brother, Reno, and now he would be spending the a whole week with him. _

_The redheaded boy admired his older brother more than anyone else in the world. It was his older brother that had taught him to ride a bike. Who kissed his scrapes and cuts when he had fallen. Gave him advice about crushes at school. Helped him with his homework when something didn't make sense. Sure, their parents did that too, but they were busy most of the time so spending time with their children was pretty rare. Reno had ended up taking care of his two younger siblings to fill the space that their parents didn't always have time for. _

_"Axel," called the boy's mother from outside. "Bring Kairi out here so we can be on our way."_

_"Yes mother!" Axel grinned taking his younger sister's hand. "Come on Kai! We are going to see RenRen!" The small girl's blue eyes lit up at the name._

_"RenRen! RenRen!" Kairi screamed in excitement pulling her brother outside to the minivan that was loaded up for the trip. She reached her small arms up begging the older boy to help her into the car which was too high. Axel laughed as he gently lifted his sister up into the van before climbing in himself. It took a great deal of effort on his part to get her to stop squirming so he could buckle her in. The girl was just too excited and so was he. _

_"Who is ready to go camping?" their father grinned as he turned around from the driver seat. His blue eyes looked over the two making sure they were both buckled in before starting the car. He backed out of the driveway and then started driving to their destination. _

_"Me! Me!" the two siblings shouted in unison raising their hands in the air. _

_"Now now," their mother giggled, "We still have a long way to go. Save some excitement for when we actually arrive."_

_"And then we can see Reno right?" Axel asked with a bright smile. The auburn haired woman's green eyes saddened for a bit before masking the sadness with a soft smile. _

_"Let's see if we can beat him there." the woman laughed, "then we can call him a rotten egg for being last."_

_"bad egg! bad egg!" Kairi giggled clapping her hands together to form a random melody. "RenRen is a bad egg!"_

_"Not yet Kai," Axel laughed, "We have to beat him there first." Kairi's eyes went wide with shock. _

_"Papa! Hurry!" the small girl shouted. "We can't let RenRen beat us!"_

_"Okay Kairi," the dark haired man chuckled, "I will get us there as fast as I can."_

_~0~0~0~0~0~0~_

_The young boy groaned as he woke up to stare at a blank white ceiling he didn't recognize. A soft beeping noise was coming from somewhere in the room. Green eyes glanced up to the side to see a heart monitor next to the bed he was in. He had seen it enough times from the movies and television shows to know what it was and where he was. He was in the hospital._

_Something had happened, the boy was sure of it, but he couldn't quite grasp the fuzzy images that flooded to his head. He brought a hand to his throbbing head, tears collecting in his eyes as he stubbornly tried to remember what happened. Where were his parents? Where was Kairi?_

_"Kairi!" he shouted sitting up in his hospital bed looking around the empty room. Pain shot through his entire body, especially in his back, but he ignored it for the time being. He hoped that he was the only one who had been hurt, but the terror that he felt told him otherwise. The door opened causing the boy to go stiff as a stranger entered the room. The black haired woman was in white scrubs and glanced at the clipboard in her hand before entering the room._

_"How are you feeling Axel?" she asked as neared the bed to check the various machines and some bandages on the boy's arms, head and back. Something he hadn't noticed until now, but that didn't matter. _

_"Where are my parents and sister?" Axel asked with pleading eyes. The woman tensed as her brown eyes met her patient's clearly not expecting that question so soon._

_"Do you remember what happened?" she asked softly. "Do you know why you are here?"_

_The boy was about to yell at her that obviously he didn't remember when suddenly there was a sharp pain in his head. He grabbed his head with a small whimper wishing the pain would go away along with the images. The images he had seen earlier were no longer fuzzy, but suddenly so clear that he could see every detail. The headlights of the oncoming car. The faces of his parents smiling until they realized too late what was happening. The sudden urge he had to throw his body over his sister to protect her from what was to come. The sense of never ending tumbling. The sounds of shattering glass and the crunch of metal. Hanging upside down. Kairi crying. The smell of gasoline. People screaming. Strong hands pulling him from what once used to be a minivan. A sharp pain in his back. Kairi running towards him with no major injuries. Relief his sister was okay. An explosion. His parents still inside. More screaming. Then darkness. _

_"No!" he screamed not wanting to remember. Tears run down his cheeks as the images started to replay again and again. _

_"Axel! Calm down!" the woman yelled trying to keep the boy from opening his stitches from his thrashing around. "Axel!" _

_"No!" the boy continued to scream wishing this was all just a bad dream. That he would wake up and Reno would be there to tell him everything would be okay. That they were camping as a family and having the time of their lives. _

_"Nurse!" the doctor called, "Sedate him! He is going to rip his stitches!" More people started to grab him to hold him still, but he didn't want to stay in the hospital. He wanted to leave and go back home where his parents would be waiting for him. There was a soft pinch in his upper thigh as everything started to get fuzzy again. His green eyes looked up at the blank ceiling one last time before they closed._

_~0~0~0~0~0~0~_

_"Axie, Axie. Wake up."_

_The redheaded boy slowly opened his eyes at the sound of a familiar voice. Kairi. He tilted his head to the side to see terrified blue eyes looking at him with a disney princess band-aid underneath one. He lifted his hand to gently touch her face not wanting his sister to cry. She looked so scared, so sad. It hurt him to see his sister like that._

_"Hey Kai," he whispered not able to completely find his voice. "Why so sad? I'm sure you weren't the rotten egg." The small girl laughed softly, some happiness finding its way back into those big blue eyes. She lifted her arms up asking to be picked up onto the bed, but before he could complete her silent request someone pulled the girl away._

_"Kairi," an old woman's voice scolded, "your brother needs to rest." The boy slowly sat up with much effort to look at his grandmother from their mother's side looking down at his sister with an annoyed look. _

_"But I want to give him a hug!" the girl demanded stubbornly putting small hands on her hips. "Hugs always make me feel better. If I give Axie a hug he will feel better too. Then we can all go home! I just want us to go home." More tears threatened to fall from those innocent blue eyes. Axel wanted to get out of bed to go to his sister, but he was far too weak to do so. _

_"Kai, come here." he said holding his arms out to her. The small girl ran over to the bed to be lifted up by her brother and cry into his shoulder. She cried because of what happened that night. She cried because her brother was hurt. She cried because her parents were gone. She cried because her brother couldn't come home and make the nightmares go away. _

_"Shh Kairi," Axel sighed. "It's okay." He wrapped his arms around the girl's small body while gently running his fingers through her maroon hair. The door slamming open startled everyone in the room causing Kairi to cling to Axel even more with terrified eyes._

_"Axel! Kairi!" Reno yelled only to let out a sigh of relief as he looked at the young girl and boy. "Sorry I'm late. I came..."_

_"Be quiet!" their grandmother scolded still holding her hand over heart from the oldest redhead's entrance. "You were supposed to be here yesterday, where have you been?"_

_"I'm sorry, yo" the teenager apologized. "The plane was delayed because of the weather not to mention having to find a ticket to begin with. It is the holidays, yo. I got here as soon as I could." His blue eyes looked over at his siblings begging for forgiveness._

_"Reno," Axel cried softly hoping their older brother would make everything better. Reno smiled softly as he joined his siblings on the small bed for a hug. _

_"Don't worry squirts," the eldest sibling sighed, "I'll take care of you."_

_"You most certainly will not," the old woman hissed, "You are in no position to take care of two children." Axel felt his older brother stiffen at the comment and didn't quite understand what their grandmother meant. _

_"Can I talk to you outside grams?" Reno asked which was answered with nod from the gray haired woman. He placed a soft kiss on both Kairi's and Axel's forehead before exiting the room with their grandmother._

_"What is going to happen to us?" Kairi asked with fearful eyes. The boy pulled his sister into a tight hug not knowing himself what was going to happen._

_"I don't know Kai," he sighed. "I don't know." He covered the small girl's ears so she wouldn't have to listen to the yelling on the other side of the closed door._

**~0~**

_'Hey you might think that I'm crazy,_

_But you know I'm just your type,_

_I might be 'little hazy_

_But you cannot deny_

_There is a spark in between us...' _

Axel slowly opened his eyes filled with tears at the memory not even realizing the alarm clock blaring Brittany Spears. It had been so long since that certain nightmare had haunted his dreams because normally it was what came after that he couldn't seem to forget. He could almost feel the pain in his back when the accident happened thirteen years ago. Now all that was left was the hideous scar that he covered up with a tattoo.

Roxas woke up to the alarm only to notice that the redhead was awake already with tears in his eyes. He blinked wondering if he was imagining it, but when he opened his eyes again the tears were still there.

"Axel," he whispered, "Are you okay?" Green eyes widened in surprise for a moment as they met blue, but then looked away quickly. He didn't want the blonde to see him like this because it would lead to too many questions.

"I'm fine," Axel sighed stubbornly wiping away the remain tears. It had been years since he had let anyone see him cry and to cry in front of someone he hardly knew was embarrassing. Roxas let out a sigh knowing that something was bothering the redhead, but didn't want to pry at the same time.

"You know," Roxas smiled, "You can always talk to me if you need to. I know we don't know each other too well, but I just want you to know I am here to listen if you need me. My mother always told me that it is better to talk about it then keep it bottled in." The intensity of the gaze of green cause him to blush a bit at sounding to corny, but he meant what he said. The older male let out a sigh feeling for whatever odd reason he could tell his student a little about his past. Maybe talking about it would make it a little better, but the parts of his past that really bothered him he hadn't told anyone.

"I was just remembering when my parents died in a car accident." he admitted staring at the blank white ceiling that reminded him so much of being in the hospital. It was probably because of this that he remembered since he never let his ceiling be blank since he was ten.

"Oh, I'm sorry." the blonde said giving the redhead's hand a small squeeze. "That must have been hard." He wanted to smack himself for sounding so stupid because of course loosing your parents would be hard. Plus, he had no idea of what it would even feel like because he still had both of his parents.

"It's okay," Axel replied, "Shit happens." He sat up still feeling a bit dizzy maybe from the fever, but he was feeling much better than he had two days ago. It was time for him to go back to his apartment, then go back to work. He knew Xemnas wasn't going to be happy with him missing work. God how he wished he had never gotten sick.

"Are you going to go back to your apartment?" Roxas asked and was answered with a nod from redhead. "Do you promise that you will rest like Olette said?" The pregnant silence made him angry that Axel wasn't going to take care of himself after he left. What was his problem?

"Look," he hissed, "I'm sorry your parents are dead, but if you aren't going to take care of yourself then I'm not letting you leave." Axel just looked at the boy with surprised green eyes not knowing what to say or do. It was bad enough to have to stay there as long as he had already. If anyone found out, he was sure he would be in trouble with the school. They would make it seem like some kind of scandal. That's when he remembered the talk he had with the brunette girl the other day. If a scandal broke out it would hurt the blonde, and she would kill him for it.

Flashback

_He sat up when he heard the door opening expecting it to be the blonde, but instead he saw a brunette girl enter. She gave him a stern look as she crossed the room before she stood by the bed with narrowed eyes._

_"I'm Olette," the brunette said introducing herself, "I'm Roxas' friend and let me warn you Axel Alexander Fair. If you hurt him in any way you will regret it to the point you'll be begging for death. That's a promise." She place her hands on her hips glaring daggers at him._

_He just sat there wondering how in the world he had gotten into such a situation, but knew it wasn't going to help. It seemed as if Roxas had a crush on him, from what he observed and the way the girl, Olette, was threatening him. He wondered if Olette knew about his past and that was the reason she was threatening him, or if it was just the over protective friend thing. He wouldn't know. He had never really had a best friend besides his older brother, but when the accident happened all that was taken away. At the thought, he curled his hands into fists grabbing some of the sheets as he did so._

_"Look," he finally said, "I don't intend on hurting anyone."_

_"That's waht everyone says," Olette retorted with a roll of her eyes. "I don't know if you have noticed, but Roxas kind of has a crush on you. Technically I wouldn't say anything, but because of your medical records, I have chosen to give you the talk. Roxas says that you are his first crush so like I said before, you hurt him you're going to pay dearly for it."_

_"It wouldn't work out," He sighed, "He'll just have to get over his crush on me." He never had a relationship before because of everything that had happened in his past. Even though he moved to the United States to get away from it, he still didn't feel like he could ever have a relationship. His running away had more about just starting new. He glanced up noticing the change in the girl's face. It was no longer angry, but now sad._

_"Is it because of what happened?" she asked softly taking a seat on the bed, "You know, as long as you aren't still pulling those stunts you did in the past I am okay with you dating Roxas. The past is the past after all."_

_"You're contradicting yourself," He chuckled softly._

_"I know," the girl said with a small smile. "I just know that if you still have those problems then it would hurt Roxas in the end. You haven't scheduled any other doctor visits besides...Anyways, I just had to make sure. If you had a better medical record in America I wouldn't be so pushy about everything. I'm sorry." Green eyes slightly widened at her knowing so much about him, but for some reason she had the all knowing aura to her so he wasn't completely thrown off guard._

_"It's okay," He sighed, "I'm no longer anorexic, just a poor student, but that's all and no recent thoughts of suicide. I came to America to get away from my past. Besides, I was in high school, and let's just say high school wasn't exactly a box of roses." He didn't say anything else, because that wasn't the only reason he was like that back then. Of course no one knew the other reason because he had never told anyone what was really going on. After the accident, he had grown apart from his older brother and younger sister so them them would have been weird. Even during counseling he didn't say much and was surprised that he even wanted to be a teacher after coming to the states. However, he did tell himself then that it was the start of a new life, even if it was crappy at times._

_"There is something that happened that you haven't told anyone," Olette said softly, "You know Axel, you can't let the past get in the way of your future. I mean, if you really did come to America to get away from the past, then you aren't doing a good job of it. You should try a little harder." She gave him a bright smile before standing up and leaving the room._

End Flashback

"Look," Axel growled back, "I am a grown man. I can take care of myself. I have been taking care of myself since I was ten since my fucking uncle that I was sent to live with didn't take care of me. I'm not a rich spoiled brat like you, but just to let you know I have a job. A job that I need to pay for things such as rent and food. I'm sure you would never understand." He got up, grabbed his keys, phone and wallet which were convinently on the night stand and stormed out of the dorm. He didn't need someone to get close to him. No, he couldn't let someone get close to him. If they ever knew... He stopped as he held back tears as more memories from the past came back to haunt him. He shook his head with frustration before heading towards his apartment. Hopefully the girl wouldn't kill him for pushing the blonde away.

Roxas just looked at the door in shock not even knowing how to react to such a reaction. It was more than obvious that Axel was getting better, but if he didn't rest for at least another day it probably would only make him worse in the end. But what was he supposed to do? Lock the redhead in his dorm until he was better? He had no choice but to just let Axel go do what he wanted. He had already pretty much kidnapped the man, even if his intentions were pure.

The sound of the radio coming from the other room reminded him that he needed to get ready for class. Hopefully when he had astronomy the redhead would be teaching again. Not the cranky old professor that seemed to just hate the world. With a frustrated sigh he went about his morning routine and then left to go to class. The only problem was he couldn't stop thinking about Axel.

**~0~**

Axel was out of breath by the time he reached his apartment mainly because of his lingering sickness, but also because he started running at some point. Like running would make all those terrible memories go away. He could never run from them. Even now, his job wasn't always the most dignified, but it did bring in more money. The more money, the more he could save to help pay back his school tuition once he needed to start paying his student loans back.

Loud snoring from the bedroom meant that his roommate was still asleep. Typical. It was only seven thirty in the morning which meant if he wasn't quiet the mullet head would rip him a new one. Not that he really needed to go into the bedroom anyways, the shower was down the small hall and there was a stack of clean laundry on the sofa that neither wanted to fold. He grabbed a towel and a change of clothes before entering the bathroom to take a shower. His first class was at nine so he had an hour and a half to get there, but he would need to show up early so he could talk to the professor to see if he had missed anything important.

Axel caught the image of his scar in the mirror as he took off his shirt. Even with the tattoo of two large bat wings that took up most of his back, the scar with still visibly ugly. It was a different shade than the rest of the tattoo, and where the tattoo didn't cover it was a jagged mess. It went all the way from his right shoulder down his spine and then to his left hip. They had said he was lucky that his spine and spinal chord didn't get damaged. However he hated it, but it was proof that if he hadn't thrown himself over his younger sister that she might have died that night too. Kairi. He desperately missed his younger sister, but after the accident everything changed. Despite Reno being eighteen and working, they didn't grant him guardianship. Kairi was shipped off to live with their grandmother from their mother's side. While he was condemned to live with their father's brother in France. After that happened, he had lost almost all contact with his siblings.

While he was in the shower all he could think about was growing up before the accident and how wonderful his life could had been if it never happened. Of course there was no way of changing the past and the only thing he could do was live in the present with a hope that he would have a brighter future. The scars on his wrists seemed to glow under the water from when he had cut himself as a teenager. How could his future ever be bright if he was constantly reminded of his past whenever he looked at the scars on his body? He shook his head, and focused on just the task of taking a shower.

When he was done he got changed and plugged his phone in so it could charge knowing it was probably dead. He waltzed into the kitchen to make himself some top ramen for breakfast when the answering machine blinking message caught his eyes. Without a second thought he pressed the button to listen to the missed messages while he made his breakfast of champions.

'You have 2 missed messages. First message,' the message machine Cynthia chimed. Why they had named it Cynthia? Well, they had both been drunk and ever since then the message machine's voice was named Cynthia.

"Axel," the voice of Xemnas his growled on the message machine. "I just thought I let you know that you're going to have to work extra when you come back to make up for the time you missed. Which reminds me, I need you to cover Marluxia's shift friday and saturday. Make sure you are back in time otherwise you're going to have hell to pay for when you finally do get back." There was a beep signaling the message was over before Cynthia stated that she was going to play the next message.

"Axel, it's me Kairi." Axel froze. "I'm calling to let you know that I will be graduating high school this year and I really would like you to come to graduation. Of course graduation isn't for a while, but I figured I should let you know early so you could make plans. But don't tell grandma, you know how she is. Just email me at kairistarfruit12357 at gmail dot com. I really miss you, please write soon." There was another beep to let him know the message ended followed by Cynthia saying 'end of messages'.

How did Kairi get his number? The only people who had this number where Xemnas, the school and the people he pays his bills to. But that wasn't the biggest dilemma about the message. Even though he would love to go see his younger sister graduate high school, he didn't have they money or the time to go. But she had taken the time to find him and contact him. The least he could do was contact her back. He let out a sigh as he picked up the phone to call his boss. Maybe if he worked more and didn't teach astronomy every monday for two hours and actually let the professor teach he could work more.

"Xemnas," said the voice on the other line.

"It's Axel, I will cover Marluxia's shift Friday and Saturday. And if you have any other open shifts I will work those too." He let out a sigh knowing that Xemnas would now work him nonstop and since all his classes were during the day except for astronomy he probably would be working every night, probably all double shifts.

"Good," Xemnas delighted voice said. "Come into work at four. Bye." The line went dead. Axel let out a sigh knowing that he probably wouldn't be bar tending his entire shift, but that was fine. He was going to see his sister's graduation. The microwave beeped as it finished cooking the top ramen so he could start heading back to school. He grabbed his school bag that he left by the door Monday night after he got back from class before he went out to get some medicine. Maybe him not showing up to astronomy every monday night would be a good thing since the blonde student might forget about him. He let out a sigh as he threw his bag over his left shoulder and headed out for class. It was going to be a long day.

**~0~**

"Roxas!" Hayner screamed like a banshee before jumping on the other blonde's back. "Guess what! guess what?"

"Geeze, Hayner," Roxas groaned, "Get off." He managed to push his friend off him who was way more excited than he should be about something. It probably had to do something about Seifer. Not two seconds after the thought Hayner mentioned his boyfriends name. Knew it.

"Seifer is taking me out for out one year anniversary." Hayner grinned, "But it isn't going to be a normal anniversary dinner. We are going to a strip club called Organization XIII and we are inviting our friends. So that means you, Pence and Olette are coming."

"I don't know," Roxas replied with a nervous chuckle. "I don't think I can stand watching people strip."

"Come on Rox!" the other blonde begged, "It's a gay strip club! It is 18 and over, and since we aren't 21 yet all we can't do is go to the bar. But why would you want to be drunk if some hot guy is..."

"Stop!" the blue eyed blonde shouted, "That is disgusting! I seriously wonder about you and your relationship with Seifer sometimes."

"We are allowed to look and touch, just not fuck." Hayner sang in a little sing-song.

"If he doesn't want to go, you can't make him." Olette said giving the brown eyed blonde punch to his right arm. Roxas was thankful that Pence and Olette had showed up for lunch when they did otherwise Hayner would have kept going. Although he was almost positive that there was no way he was going to be able to back out of going to the strip club. Hayner was stubborn like that.

"Oww," Hayner cried rubbing his abused arm. "What? He is gay so it doesn't matter. If anything I thought you two would have had objections."

"Come on guys." Pence smiled, "Let's just have lunch for now. We can talk about what is happening tonight later."

"Rox, you are going." Hayner stated matter-of-factly. "We are going to go right after biology class. So you can't escape."

"Where are you going?" the brunette girl questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"To make reservations. Duh," the camo clad blonde grinned. "See you guys later." The three remaining friends just watched as the fourth disappeared into the mob of people that were filling the cafeteria.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to Roxas," the smiling girl said. Roxas knew that, but he knew that Hayner was his friend. It was the reason that Pence and Olette were probably going even though the club wasn't their cup of tea. He didn't even know if it was his cup of tea, but since he kind of had a crush on a certain redhead everyone just assumed it was. Shoot, even he assumed as much. Axel... he really hoped the idiot was taking care of himself.

"Earth to Roxas" Pence laughed waving a hand in front of lost blue eyes. Roxas blinked a few times as he came out of his thoughts of the redhead.

"Sorry, I'm just worried." he sighed.

"About Axel?" Olette smiled, "Don't worry, you'll see him soon so you can yell at him for not taking the night off like I suggested." The two boys looked at each other in confusion not having a clue what she was talking about. She just gave them a bright smile knowing that Roxas would know eventually, but for now she would keep her mouth shut. The three friends ended up eating lunch in silence not knowing what else to say. Their next class was biology with a lab meaning that it was a three hour class. Not that Roxas minded he was good at science, but his friends weren't meaning they were going to be asking him what everything meant.

"So you ready for after bio?" Hayner asked as he threw an arm around the other blonde's shoulders to give him a noogy. "I'm sure you'll have fun."

"Why did you pick a strip club Hayner?" Roxas groaned at the thought of guys stripping in front of him, but it wasn't just anyone. It was Axel which made his face glow at just the thought.

"You know you'll like it." his friend teased. "I bet you're imagining that sexy redheaded teacher assistant right now!" The blush deepening to an impossible shade of red only confirmed everything causing the taller blonde to break out into a fit of laughter.

"Hayner stop teasing him!" Olette chided giving the teasing boy another punch in the arm like she had earlier. He gave her a hurt look as he rubbed his arm not quite understanding why he deserved it in the first place.

"Roxas, just think of it as hanging out with friends." Pence suggested with a smile. "If we get there early enough we can get a table in the corner or something."

"But that would ruin the fun!" Hayner whined. "What is the point in going to a strip club if you don't get a good view! Come on! You guys are a bunch of kill joy!"

"Maybe I'll just look at the wall the entire time." Roxas offered knowing he was going to get dragged there anyways. "Or maybe just wear a blind fold." Though he doubted either would help, because he was sure he would just keep imagining the redhead. He shook his head trying to get the impure image out of his head. He shouldn't be thinking of the astronomy assistant teacher like that. It was wrong and he knew it, but he just couldn't help it.

"Class settle down," the biology teacher said as he entered the room. "Now today we are going to go over the sex organs." Roxas let his head hit the table at hearing the word sex. With that word now spinning around in his mind along with the images of the strip club, it was going to be a long and painful biology class. This was all Hayner's fault. He was certain that he wouldn't be thinking such things about the redhead if Hayner didn't mention a strip club. He was so going to kill Hayner.

Roxas tried to clear his mind by ignoring the lecture all together and working on homework for his other classes. It didn't matter if he paid attention because he already knew everything and anything to keep him from thinking about...He shook his head working on his music theory homework remembering what had happened on monday which made him tense at the thought. If their professor knew who he was he only hoped she would tell anyone. That was the last thing he wanted right now. The paparazzi finding him in a gay strip club. He could just see it now all over the American and Britain newspapers and news channels.

"Okay class," the biology teacher smiled, "Next week you have a test and don't forget to bring a blue book. Class dismissed."

"Who would have thought that biology would be so interesting?" Hayner grinned. "I am so ready to go to a strip club! Last one to my car is a rotten egg!" He darted off like a bat out of hell leaving three to follow after him. They followed, but at a much slower pace mainly because the remaining blonde didn't seem to be in the mood for racing.

"Are you okay Roxas?" Pence asked concerned for his friend.

"Just hope my secret stays safe tonight." the blonde admitted. "I can't imagine what I would do if the paparazzi got pictures of me in a gay strip club." The raven haired boy and brunette girl just laughed at such a petty fear.

"You'll be fine," Olette giggled, "The owner is very strict about photography from what I hear. I doubt he would ever let someone with a camera keep a picture from inside the club. He takes phones at the door if it has a camera on it which is why our phones will stay in the car." The small bit of information made the former singer felt a bit better, but just because the paparazzi wasn't allowed to bring cameras it didn't mean they couldn't take pictures outside of him walking into the club. He groaned at the thought, but at least his fear of the paparazzi was better than the other things he was thinking earlier, even if the paparazzi finding him was slim.

"Yeah, I guess I just worry too much." Roxas chuckled nervously.

"Come on guys!" Hayner whined from the car that was only a few feet away. "Seifer just texted me! He is already there! The club just opened!"

"Ok Hayner, calm down." Pence laughed as they reached the car. Roxas sitting in the front with Olette and Pence sitting in the back for obvious reason. Once everyone was in the car, the brown eyed blonde hit the gas to get to the club as quick as possible. It annoyed him to no end that his friends took forever and that his boyfriend had already beat them there. He was sure Seifer was laughing at him with Fuu, Rai and Vivi. Bastard. The car skidded to a stop in the almost full parking lot leaving the three passengers happy to exit the car onto safe land.

"I think I'm going to be sick," the raven haired boy frowned as he dizzily got out of the car. If this is what getting drunk felt like, he never wanted to drink.

"Hey hey," Hayner hissed, "Throw up on the car and you are cleaning it!" He put everyone's phone in the glove compartment so no one would see just four phones chilling in the car. After that, he grabbed his wallet, locked the car and darted over to the entrance of the Organization XIII strip club and bar.

"Well," Olette sighed, "let's get this over with. I told Hayner that we aren't going to stay too long. I have an audition tomorrow morning." She gave the two boys a grin before dragging them to the entrance to get into the club.

"I.D." said a large man with crazy spiky light brown hair. The three friends pulled out their I.D.s, Roxas' being a passport for the man to inspect. When satisfied that they were real he nodded and let them into the club filled with people. Now was the task to find Hayner, but in the end it didn't take long because of him arguing with Seifer. Roxas let out a groan realizing that Seifer had picked a table that was right next to one of the many stages that were in the club. The one that he picked of course was on that had not just one pole on it, but three.

"My friends took forever!" Hayner yelled over the music and chattering.

"My friends are just better than yours I guess," Seifer said with a cocky smile.

"You wish!" Hayner argued.

"Stop it you two." said Fuu with an annoyed sigh pushing some of her shoulder length gray hair from her face. "The show is about to start."

"Yeah," Rai laughed, "Sit your ass down. You'll kiss and make up in a few seconds." Before the two could argue the large olive skinned man pushed them down into their seats.

The music stopped as the lights dimmed everywhere except the stages where the poles were. An announcement was made about the rules of the club and then to enjoy the show as men walked onto the stage. Roxas was about to turn away and cover his eyes when a flash of red caught his eye. It couldn't be. Blue eyes widened as he looked up on the stage in front of him to see Axel grinding the pole as he started to take off his shirt. His jaw dropped at the sight because there was no way this was real. He glanced at his friends and Pence's and Olette's faces were enough to confirm it wasn't just in his head. Of course Hayner was oblivious to everything has he made out with Seifer. Typical. He rolled eyes at the two which caused him to look back up at the redhead. Somehow in the matter of seconds the redhead had lost his shirt to reveal a perfectly muscled lean body glistening in the lights. A tattoo of the roman numeral eight was on the right hand side of the man's chest. He vaguely wondered what the meaning behind it was.

Roxas just sat their in awe wanting to rip his eyes away, but couldn't summon enough will power to so. The redhead turned to face the other side of the stage to reveal an intricate tattoo of bat wings that took up the redhead's back. However, there was something off that he couldn't quite put his finger on. The tattoo was light in some spots, but he just blamed it on the lighting because there was no other imperfection on the redhead's back. His thoughts went blank when Axel turned around again now wearing nothing but a black speedo. That is when he couldn't look anymore and just buried his face in his hands completely embarrassed that he was looking so close at his almost naked teacher's assistant. It was just as he imagined it in his mind, only so much better which got him to thinking about even worse things.

Slowly he peeked through his hands back up at the redhead to see people shoving money in his speedo and grabbing at him. He wanted to touch him, but it just didn't seem right. He wanted to touch Axel by himself and thoroughly explore his body with the redhead knowing who was touching him. Once more his face was hidden behind his hands for even thinking about such a thing. It was obvious that Axel didn't like him otherwise he wouldn't have stormed out of the dorm this morning. When he went to look up at Axel once more, the redhead was gone and replaced by a long haired pink man instead, but he wasn't interested. His blue eyes were able to catch a glimpse of red hair disappearing backstage and wished that he would come back. But he didn't.

**~0~**

Axel let out a tired sigh as he collapsed on one of the many sofas in the backstage area for the entertainers. It was hard enough to pole dance when healthy and even harder to do it when he still had a slight fever from his illness. Truth be told, he was beyond exhausted, and would like nothing more than to go home to rest, but his shift had just started. Xemnas had told him to open the show since Marluxia was going to be late and thankfully after that he would be bar tending and waiting tables for the rest of the night. Followed by scrubbing the bathrooms with a toothbrush after they closed to make up for missing.

"Hurry up and get changed," snapped a dark skinned man who had just entered the room. "Your break isn't for another two hours. How can you already be exhausted from dancing only half an hour? Nevermind, Hurry up!"

"Yes Xemnas, sorry." the redhead sighed getting up to take a quick shower then change into his bar tending uniform instead. The makeup that he used to cover his scar mixed with the water before disappearing down the drain. He closed his eyes and rested his burning forehead on the cool tile of the shower wall. Only 11 more hours to go. Then he would be on the bus for an hour before going home to work on homework. He probably wouldn't get much sleep tonight, but he would have to deal with it. He had emailed his sister back to let her know that he would come to her graduation which meant he needed to start saving up the money to buy a ticket back to Britain and get a cheap hotel for a night or two.

He exited the shower and looked at the stack of crumbled up money that was shoved into his speedo. There was no denying that he made more as a stripper, not because of the tips, but because of the pay. Although there were times when people would shove more than just one dollar bills into his speedo. A shiver ran though his body at the thought of people touching him so intimately. It was something that he had learned to cover up on stage like the makeup he used for his scar, but once he was backstage even after a shower he felt disgusting because it brought back even worse memories.

Axel clenched his jaw as he focused on the here and now. He would be bar tending tonight so that part was over for now though he was fairly certain people would touch him as he waited tables, they always did. Though he had the right to stop them when waiting tables, so it never was too bad. He took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves as he dried himself off and changed into his bar tending outfit. It was still somewhat revealing considering his black pants were skin tight, and his black shirt was a fishnet looking shirt that showed off his chest but not the back because it wasn't see through there.

"Xemnas wants you to wait tables! Hurry up!" a blue haired man barked from around the corner.

"Coming!" Axel shouted back as he fixed his shirt and dashed back into the kitchen to pick up the orders that had been brought back by the other waiters. He picked to help Zexion take out an rather large order of eight cheeseburgers to table number thirteen which was one of the tables he was performing in front of earlier. He only hoped that none of the guests would try to grope him like the people did when he was on stage. But if he remembered correctly no one from that table touched him tonight. Odd.

"Axel hurry up!" Zexion hissed already halfway through the door that led to club where the people of table thirteen were awaiting their cheeseburgers.

"Sorry," the redhead apologized grabbing the rest of the order to follow the blunette through the club to the table. However, before he made it to the table he froze in his tracks. There sitting in the booth, were four of his students from the astronomy class he taught. He was certain that his students couldn't see him now, since their eyes probably weren't as used to the dark lights of the club as he was, but the fact that he had been stripping in front of their table. He cringed wishing that they would mistake him for someone else and not create an awkward tension next class. Zexion gave him a death glare from across the club, but it soften when he noticed the horrified look on the redhead's face.

"I'll be right back with the rest," the blunette told the guests before walking over to the redhead with a concerned look on his face. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Nothing, I..." Axel stammered trying to come up with an excuse. His green eyes glanced back over at the table thankful that Roxas was just staring at the table with a bored expression. He only hoped the blonde was like that during his performance. Zexion followed his gaze and vaguely remembered the blonde when he went to go drop off clothes for Axel.

"Oh," he sighed, "Look, just help the others, I will deal with that table. Don't let Xemnas catch you slacking off and close your mouth before a fly flies in it." He took the rest of the cheeseburgers from the redhead and returned to the table. Axel shook his head and went back to the kitchen to help deliver other orders to all the tables except thirteen. In fact he tried to make sure he got orders for the tables that were the farthest away from that certain table. Once the orders were caught up, he went to the bar where he knew he was going to be safe from his students, at least he hoped. They didn't look over 21, but he was never good at judging people's ages. Thankfully, he never saw his students once come close to the bar. And since the bar was busier than the kitchen he was allowed to work there until the bar closed.

Once the club was cleared out it was time to clean up the mess. Saix came up to him with a smirk as he handed the redhead a toothbrush to clean the bathrooms with. Everyone knew that cleaning the bathrooms were the worse because a) it was a bathroom and just disgusting by itself b) people threw up there and didn't always make it to the toilet and the worse was c) because horny guys would get turned on and go to the bathroom to 'finish'. Although not all of their guests were decent enough to finish their business in the bathroom, but most did.

With a heavy sigh, Axel took the toothbrush and make his way to the bathroom to clean it. He knew he would probably be on bathroom duty for a week for missing one shift, but at least he was getting paid. It took him two hours to scrub the bathroom to Xemnas' standards leaving the redhead even more exhausted than before and sore from kneeling on the hard floor. He took a shower before leaving the club not surprised to see a bunch of cars left in the parking lot of people who were too drunk to drive home. It was raining causing Axel to let out a frustrated sigh at having to walk to the bus stop in the rain since he forgot his umbrella.

"Hey," said a voice from the redhead's left that made him practically jump out of his skin. Wide green eyes met narrowed blue. "You should be at home resting."

Roxas glared at the redhead before him, and had originally just come back to make sure he was doing okay. However, when he saw how tired the tall man looked he began to worry since he knew that the redhead was still sick. He hadn't meant to get out of his car and talk to his teacher's assistant, but now it was too late. Besides, he was angry that the man wasn't taking care of himself and he was already wet from the rain now.

"Isn't it past your bed time?" Axel retaliated surprised to see the blonde was waiting for him. Roxas narrowed his eyes further and stubbornly crossed his arms. Yes he knew he looked younger than he was, but he hated more than anything of being reminded of it.

"Shut up," he growled a low warning.

"Look I don't have time for this," the tall man sighed knowing he was going to miss the bus if he didn't hurry. Then he would have to wait another hour for it to come again. Roxas watched Axel exit the parking lot without a car feeling a tight pull somewhere inside his chest.

"Wait!" Roxas called after the redhead as he ran after him. He was surprised when the man stopped and waited for him, but not with an angry expression, a tired one.

"Since I'm here," he continued in a rush looking down at the ground feeling like his heart was going to jump out of his chest. "Let me at least give you a ride home. You are just getting over being sick and it doesn't look like you have an umbrella. I'm sorry about this morning and if you hate me I understand, but please let me just make sure you get home safely." Axel looked down at the blonde wondering why in the world the boy would care. His green eyes looked down the deserted road knowing that he was probably going to miss the bus anyway at this rate. Besides, he was tired and his fever was coming back with a vengeance for being out in the cold.

"Fine," the redhead sighed. "And don't apologize for this morning, there is nothing to apologize for. I should be the one apologizing for being rude even though you have been taking care of me. Sorry..." The blonde looked up with a small smile and took the taller man's hand to lead him to the safety of the warm car.

"Thank you," Axel sighed as rested his tired body in the comfy passenger seat of the car. His green eyes just stared out the window not wanting to look at the blonde next to him.

"You're welcome," Roxas smiled as he backed the car up and then pulled out of the driveway. He started to head the general direction of the campus, but he had no idea where off campus the redhead lived. He was about to ask, but Axel started talking first.

"Did you enjoy the show?" the redhead asked wanting to know if the blonde had actually seen him. The tense atmosphere and the never ending silence was just as good as the blonde actually answering. So he did see everything. He snuck a glance over to Roxas who was blushing so brightly he could swear it was brighter than his hair. He laughed because the boy next to him looked like he got caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar.

Roxas' blue eyes widened at the laughter. It was the last thing he had expected from the redhead, but there it was echoing throughout the car. He glanced over at Axel who looked like he was about to die of laughter, but he couldn't understand what was so funny. Anger started to bubble inside him and he wondered if Hayner had planned this with the redhead.

"What's so funny?" Roxas demanded as the laughter ceased. "Did you and Hayner plan this? Is this some sick joke you two are playing to throw in my face that I just recently found out that I'm probably gay!" Something wet ran down his cheek wondering why he was crying. The redhead looked over at the blonde who was now crying. He didn't mean to upset him.

"No, nothing like that." Axel whispered as he went back to looking out the window, "It's just when I asked you if you enjoyed the show you looked like a child that had been caught stealing the cookies in the cookie jar. Sorry if I offended you." How long had it been since he actually laughed? Now he was in trouble for it. Story of his life always getting into trouble.

"Oh," the blonde sighed with relief. "Sorry I yelled. It is just something Hayner would do."

"Hayner sounds like a dick," the redhead replied. "Can't imagine a nice kid like you hanging out with someone like that." Now it was Roxas' turn to laugh. The way Axel said the first part was hilarious to him for no apparent reason or maybe because it was actually true.

"Yes, well, he has his moments." Roxas laughed. Axel just watched the other male laugh at something that he didn't even think was funny. Although he did prefer a laughing Roxas over a crying Roxas.

"So," he continued with a smile, "Where exactly do you live?"

"Neminis Dr." Axel replied automatically. Roxas nodded with a smile glad he at least knew where that was and they would probably be there in another ten minutes, but until then he could talk to the taller man. The only problem was he didn't even know where to start. He definitely didn't want to ask the teacher's assistant about how he started stripping, but there were so many other things he wanted to know.

"Soo," Roxas said to try and fill the now awkward silence, but there was no answer. He was about to get mad at the redhead for not trying to break the silence, but only smiled when he noticed Axel had fallen asleep. He figured he must had worked a long shift since he was there around five and was only leaving now. that and he was still getting over being sick, but being the stubborn person Axel was he went to work against Olette's warning. A tired sigh escaped his lips not from physical exhaustion, but just from worrying so much about the redhead. When he finally pulled onto Neminis Dr he regretfully had to wake the redhead up.

"Thank you," Axel yawned as he exited the car. "Drive safely."

"Night Axel," Roxas smiled, "And take better care of yourself." He watched Axel return the smile before closing the door. He was about to drive away, but the thought of the redhead having to take the bus home so late at night in the cold made him stop. Quickly, he scribbled his number on a random piece of paper and rolled down the window.

"Axel!" the blonde shouted hoping the other male could hear him. He let out a sigh of relief when the redhead stopped and turned around with a confused expression.

"Did I forget something?" the confused redhead asked.

"No, but..." Roxas paused before looking into those bright green eyes, "If you ever need a ride, feel free to give me a call." Axel just looked blankly at the blonde as he took the small piece of paper. He would accept it, but he wouldn't call. He was already growing somewhat attached to this boy mainly because he just couldn't understand why he was being so nice to him. Yeah, the boy had a crush on him, but most people would be disgusted after knowing he was a stripper. He mentally slapped himself to remember that getting attached to anyone was dangerous. If they ever found out...

"Thanks," Axel grinned hiding painful memories that were coming back. "Now go to home and go to bed." He watched the blonde nod as he backed away from the car. He didn't leave that spot until Roxas' car disappeared into the darkness. With a heavy sigh he made his way into his small apartment and dried himself off from the rain before changing into his sleep attire. He crashed onto the bed next to his roommate forgetting about his homework and trying to forget the small piece of paper Roxas had given him that he threw in the trash.

* * *

**A/N:** Soo, originally Axel was just supposed to be a bar tender in a club, but thanks to a certain someone who shall remain unnamed, I got this little twist implanted into my head. And truthfully, I never even really planned for Roxas to go to the club in the story. But I kind of like this little twist! Along with Axel's past being a little darker than I expected it to be. But you'll see some flashbacks next chapter... maybe...

God, I swear I just kept typing and now I have to stop because I need to clean. I really didn't think this chapter was going to take me all day, but it did. Whaaaa! Why is my life always in shambles? Why does my muse sprinkle inspiration on me when I really don't have time to update! *shakes fist at muse* Curse you!

Let me know what you think so far. :)

*Goes into Cinderella mode.* Time to clean! *disappears with a mop and broom in hand*


	4. Perfect

**~4~**

Saix had watched a certain blonde the entire night even taking a few pictures just so he could be sure it was the ex-famous singer. His lips curled up into a smirk as he sat down at the computer to search for the singer using google. He didn't quite remember the boy's name because he wasn't into such things, but Xemnas had taken a fancy to the singer back when the kid was making it big. He never forgot a face. He typed in 'famous boy singer from Britain' into google and within seconds links to various websites popped up. Of course those were no use to him if he didn't have a picture since he couldn't remember the boy's name. He moved the mouse up and clicked on images to see if any of them matched. They did. He clicked on the first one of the familiar blonde then looked down at the name underneath it. Roxas Strife. His smirk widened as he looked between his picture and the picture online. There was no denying that it was the same person.

For extra measures to make sure it really was Roxas Strife he went through the guest log for that night skimming through the various names. He came to a stop when in fact the name Roxas Strife did indeed pop up. Interesting. His blue eyes looked back at the pictures he had taken of the boy at table thirteen with his friends. Something interesting caught his attention when he looked at the pictures from when the strip show first started. The way the blonde was looking up at the stage intrigued him, but the blonde was only like that during the beginning of the show. He clicked through the various other pictures on his digital camera, but of course he hadn't gotten the stage in them so he didn't know which stripper had caught the singer's attention. No matter. He knew for a fact that the blonde was sitting at table thirteen. Shouldn't be too hard to find out who started the show in front of that table.

He exited out of the internet browser and opened the clock records to see who had been working that night. Zexion, Thexs, Maxs, Marluxia, Xigbar, Xaldin, Chixalem, Lexaeus, Axel, Vexen, Luxord, Alolpox so on and so forth. He let out a frustrated sigh. This wasn't going to help him figure out who was dancing in front of table thirteen. He exited out of the clock records not even bothering to pull up the work schedule because he knew who the strippers were. Once again he flipped through the various images of Roxas trying to find anything he could about who was working in front of table thirteen. He was about to give up and try something else when noticed the stripper's feet exiting the stage while another one came out. His blue eyes glance in the right hand corner for the time of the photo. 17:30. Odd. The club opened at 16:30 due to popular request, but the show didn't start until 17:00. A switch over so early in the show didn't make sense. Why would...? A laugh echoed through the empty manager's office as everything came together. He chuckled to himself once he calmed down as he looked at the picture of Roxas in awe of that certain stripper.

"Got a thing for a certain redhead I see," Saix chuckled, "hmm, This might prove to be interesting."

"Saix," said a deep voice the blue haired man knew all too well. "Why are you in my office?"

"Doing some research," Saix grinned as he turned around in the chair to face Xemnas. "I think you will find what I discovered to be most _interesting_." His blue eyes met golden as he held up his camera and offered it to the other man. Xemnas took the digital camera from his assistant manager and skimmed through the pictures of the group that was at table thirteen. A smirked formed on his lips more he flipped through the pictures as he recognized a certain blonde.

"Roxas Strife?" Xemnas asked with a raised eyebrow, "Never thought I'd see him in my gay strip club. I wonder how much the paparazzi would pay to have these pictures of him."

"Should I contact them sir?"

"No," the white haired man ordered, "Not yet. We need close up pictures so the press won't doubt us and maybe him doing something with one of the strippers to prove that he is gay. It will be interesting to see Roxas Strife at the center of a scandal. I'm sure the world has been dying to know what he has been up to since he disappeared off everyone's radar."

"I think I know just the stripper that will catch Roxas' attention." Saix smirked as his eyes brightened with interest. "Axel Fair."

"Axel?" Xemnas asked wondering why that certain employee would catch the singer's attention. The redhead didn't strip all that often, mostly just to fill in when someone called out or was running late.

"I noticed Roxas was only watching the stage during the first part of the show," Saix reported, "So I looked up who was there and it was Axel filling in until Marluxia got there."

"Hmm, maybe we should make Axel a full time stripper." the manager smirked as he looked at the picture of Roxas. "Hopefully the little singer will come more often and might even approach the redhead. Saix, keep a close eye on Axel for the time being. Once we locate where Roxas Strife has been hiding keep an eye on him instead."

"Yes sir," the bluenette grinned. "But I might have a way of locating the blonde sooner." He held up a school I.D. that he had stolen from Roxas so the blonde would have a reason to come back. He knew sooner or later that the boy would need his school I.D. card. Even though there was a picture on it, it was too small to really confirm it was the singer so that had been why he hadn't used it. That and he didn't know if the singer was using a different name. Xemnas took the card from his assistant manger and examined it coming to the realization that Axel went to the same college that was close by.

"Maybe they do know each other," Xemnas hummed thoughtfully. "Saix, bring up the security cameras from when Roxas and Axel were leaving."

"They didn't leave together," Saix stated, "Roxas let with his friends around nine."

"Do it!" the manager hissed venom. The bluenette didn't argue and clicked the icon on the computer that had access to all the security cameras of the club. Skillfully he brought up the recording of the parking lot when Roxas left with his friends. There was nothing unusual about it, just the group of eight dividing into groups of four and driving off. Without commenting on how pointless that was, he fast forwarded to when Axel was leaving the club. Both men stared at the screen with wide smiles when they noticed that Roxas had come back to pick the redhead up.

"Now that is interesting," Xemnas chuckled, "Too bad there is no audio so we can't hear what they are saying."

"What course of action do you want me to take?" Saix asked as he looked up at his manager.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." the white haired man smiled as he turned the singer's college I.D. card around in his hand. Things were going to get very interesting in this boring town. He couldn't wait.

**~0~**

_The boy looked at the judge sitting higher than anyone else in the room. She scared him. She looked like a mean witch that was going to place a terrible curse on them. The small girl next to him squeezed his hand obviously scared as well, but he would act tough for her. He had to be tough for her. It was here where they would determine who they would be living with. He hoped, he prayed that Reno would be the one to take care of them. Neither of them knew their grandmother or uncle well and the thought of moving in with either of them scared him. However, while he was in the hospital recovering Kairi had stayed with their grandmother and seemed relatively happy. _

_"I cannot grant you guardianship Mr. Fair." the judge spoke sternly to Reno. "Not when there are other relatives better off than you that are willing to take them under their wing. I'm sorry son. Kairi will be staying with your grandmother and Axel will be staying with your uncle. Case dismissed."_

_"You can't separate them!" Reno screamed as he banged his fist on the table in front of him. "And you can't send Axel to our uncle! He lives all the way in France!"_

_"I'm sorry," the old judge said once more. "My decision is final. Maybe when you have a steady career you will be able to gain custody of them. Until then, they will be taken care of by other relatives." The young boy watched his older brother he admired so much start to cry. He gently tugged Kairi over to where their brother was standing and they wrapped their arms around him. _

_"Why can't we stay with you?" Axel sniffled not wanting to have to move to France to live with their uncle. "Why do we all have to be separated?"_

_"It's for the best I guess," the eldest sighed wiping away his tears, but the boy could tell there were still more to come. He kneeled down and took his younger siblings' hands in his own. "You two need to be good for grams and uncle. Do you understand?" __The two young children nodded._

_"Pinky promise," Reno smiled softly holding out his two pinkies. _

_"Pinky promise," Kairi grinned as she linked her small pinky with her oldest brother's. The young boy just looked down at the ground not wanting to promise anything that would mean him being separated from his two siblings. _

_"Axel," the boy's older brother warned as he held his pinky out so it was closer to the boy. _

_"Will you promise to come visit if I promise to be good?" Axel desperately asked clearly catching his brother off guard. "If I'm good you'll come visit me all the time right?" Reno's gentle blue eyes widened at the question, then softened with a smile._

_"I will come visit you, but..." Reno warned, "it is going to be difficult for me so I might not be able to see you for long periods of time. I'll try to call you everyday though. Is that okay?" The red haired boy looked down at his feet once more upset that he wouldn't get to see Reno everyday, but it had been like that too when his older brother moved out. Slowly he nodded with a big smile._

_"You better call me everyday," the boy grinned as he locked his pinky with his brother's. "Or else you know what happens when you break a pinky swear." The eldest siblings eyes widened in comical fear._

_"Oh? And what might my punishment be yo?" he asked faking fear._

_"I will never talk to you again!" Axel laughed. _

_"Well I can't let that happen now can I?" Reno smiled ruffling the boy's spiked hair. _

_"RenRen will come see Kairi too right!" Kairi shouted not wanting to be left out._

_"I promise," the eldest laughed holding up their pinkies, "I pinky promise I will come visit you two when I can. And I will call you everyday to make sure you aren't getting into too trouble."_

_"It's a promise," the two younger siblings chimed together. _

_"Kairi," called their grandmother, "Come child. Let us go home." _

_"Yes gran gran!" the small girl called before she gave her two older brother both big hugs. "Come visit Kairi soon!" She smiled as she waved goodbye to her two brothers. _

_"Axel," said a deep voice that caused the boy to shiver. The boy had only met his uncle once, but he knew he didn't like the man even then. "Come we have a plane to catch."_

_"Go Axel," Reno encouraged with a sad smile. "Be sure to write me about what France is like. You know my address and phone number right?" The boy nodded before giving his brother a hug not ever wanting to let go. He didn't want to go to another country. He didn't want his siblings to be so far away. Was it because he was bad that he was being sent so far away?_

_"Axel," their uncle growled getting impatient with the young boy. Axel gave his older brother once last squeeze before letting go to follow their uncle out of the court room. Before the doors closed behind him he could have sworn he saw his brother crying once more._

_~0~0~0~0~0~0~_

_The red haired boy sat on his new bed looking out the window at a beautiful lake and gardens that surrounded the manor in the countryside of France. His uncle had informed him that he wouldn't go to a school, but have have tutors come to keep him caught up instead. That was until he was ready for high school, then he would go to some French boarding school. The boy was already lonely wanting nothing more to be with his siblings again. For hours his green eyes just looked out that window until there was a knock on his door and his uncle entered._

_"Phone," the man stated tossing the cordless phone onto the boy's bed. "Make it snappy. I have a business call to make in twenty minutes." With that he left the boy alone in the room with the phone on the bed. Cautious the boy picked up the phone and put it to his ear._

_"Hello?" he answered softly._

_"Axel, how are you doing yo?" asked Reno's voice which made the boy instantly relax. "You forgot to call me when you got there silly."_

_"Sorry RenRen," the boy sniffled, "uncle wouldn't let me call you. He said we had to get to the manor quickly so he could work. I'm really sorry."_

_"Calm down," Reno laughed, "Don't get your spikes in a twist porcupine." The familiar nickname made Axel smile. It was the name that Reno had given him since he was a baby because his hair always seemed to be naturally spiked. He clutched the phone tighter wishing that his older brother was actually there and not just on the phone._

_"I miss you," Axel sniffled as he looked back out his lonely window. "When can we start living with you? It will be soon right." He heard his brother take a deep breath then let it out._

_"I don't know kiddo," Reno answered, "It might take some time, but I am working on it. In the mean time be good okay. No playing with fire got it?"_

_"Got it memorized!" the boy grinned. "No playing with fire until you are their to supervise."_

_"Good," the older brother laughed, "So what is France like?"_

_"Lonely," Axel sighed as he glanced back out the window. "Uncle has this manor in the middle of nowhere. I can't even go school RenRen! I have to have tutors come."_

_"That just means you'll be extra smart, yo," Reno replied, "Just don't go getting smarter than me porcupine otherwise I won't be able to help you with your homework."_

_"I will never be smarter than you," the boy laughed thinking it was utterly impossible for anyone to be smarter than his brother. "You're the smartest person in the world."_

_"I wish," answered his brother with a soft chuckle. "You know since you don't live in the city anymore you can see the stars better. Just like camping. Why don't you just pretend you are on an adventure? You know like we always went on during the camping trips."_

_"But I can't do it without you and Kairi," the redhead argued not even able to imagine going on an epic adventure without his siblings._

_"Sure you can," Reno laughed, "Porcupines love being outside in the wilderness."_

_"This porcupine doesn't unless he is with RenRen and Kairi." the boy pouted. He listened to his brother laugh. _

_"Then look at the stars," his brother suggested, "Because no matter how far away we are, we are still sleeping underneath the same big sky."_

_"But I don't have my telescope!" he yelled in fear remembering that it was probably ruined because of the car accident. He closed his eyes and tightened the grip on his phone not wanting the images of that night to come back, but they did. He couldn't help but start to cry remembering the event._

_"Don't cry Axel," Reno said trying to comfort the boy, "I'll buy you a new one and send it to you. No need to worry."_

_"It's not that," the boy sobbed, "I keep remembering that night..." His brother took a sharp breath on the other line. The boy wished that Reno was there to hug him. There to make the nightmares go away, but he wasn't. He doubted their uncle would even care to listen. _

_"Hey hey," his brother whispered, "Try and forget about it and instead think of how happy we are going to be together once you and Kairi can come live with me. It will be just like before. The three of us off on an adventure everyday. Whether it is to the super market or to the bathroom." Axel laughed a little bit think about the stupid things his brother always said. Like an adventure to the bathroom. He laughed again just hearing his brother's voice in his head say it again._

_"To the bathroom RenRen? Really?" he laughed._

_"Hey when I was Kairi's age I always got lost going to the bathroom." Reno laughed, "I guess I wasn't lucky enough to have an older brother to show me the way. Unlike a certain porcupine."_

_"I never got lost going to the bathroom," the boy frowned. _

_"No," his brother chuckled, "but you were scared to go there in the middle of the night. Who was it who would always hold your hand and take you?"_

_"You," Axel grinned. The door was slammed open as his uncle entered the room with an annoyed look on his face. _

_"Times up!" the boys uncle shouted, "Give me the phone!"_

_"RenRen I have to go. Uncle needs the phone." the boy whispered, "I'll call you tomorrow." Before he could hear his brother say goodbye the phone was ripped from his hands._

_"Reno?" his uncle hissed, "Don't call again. We both know you can't afford the calls and I really don't want to pay for them either." He paused listening to some shouting on the other end. "That's not my problem. Write letters instead." Without another word he hung up the phone with a sour look. _

_"Who said you could make long distant calls?" he asked with a furious frown._

_"But I have to talk to Reno everyday!" Axel argued, "We pinky promised!"_

_"I don't care if you made a blood oath with the devil," the man growled, "No more long distant calls! You are grounded!" The boy watched his uncle storm out of the room, slam the door shut and lock it with an audible click. He ran over to the door to try and open it, but it was no use. Tears ran down his face as he slid down the door to his knees with his eyes closed. He wished and wished this was all just a bad dream. But when he opened his eyes again, he was still locked in his room. From that day on, he never heard anything from his older brother again._

_~o~o~o~o~o~o~_

_The boy opened his eyes wide at the sound of a loud crash coming from downstairs. Someone was trying to break into the manor. His heart raced not knowing what to do, so he just ran to the corner of the room behind the wardrobe hoping that no one would see him in the dark corner. There was a string of curses as clumsy footsteps echoed through the empty house. His uncle was in a business meeting tonight and it didn't end until ten. His green eyes glanced at the clock that read 21:38. It was too early for his uncle to be home. __He closed his eyes shut as tight as they could go as the footsteps got louder and louder, closer and closer to his room. The door was slammed open._

_"Where are you brat?" his uncle's voice shouted. The boy let out a slight sigh of relief to know it was just his uncle as he stepped out from his hiding place behind the wardrobe. _

_"I'm right here uncle." the boy whispered still afraid of the noise from earlier. "I heard a crash and thought someone was trying to break in." He looked up into fuzzy looking blue eyes and a flushed face wondering if his uncle was sick._

_"Are you okay uncle?" he asked innocently._

_"No, but I will be." the man chuckled darkly as he closed the door behind him and locked with a key. "You know my boss demoted me tonight because I missed that important meeting a few months ago when you fell off the horse and broke your arm. Apparently it was an important client and since I missed that meeting they thought our company was unreliable, but they gave me another chance. However the day that I was supposed to go meet them again last week you almost set the house of fire trying to cook god knows what in the kitchen. Now the client won't have anything to do with our company and it is all your fault."_

_"I'm sorry," the boy apologized. He hadn't meant for those things to happen, but they just happened. They were accidents, he never intentionally planned them. It had been eight months since he came to live with his uncle and there was never anything to do. All he wanted was something to entertain himself. The horse had seemed like a good idea since he had seen people riding on horses all the time in the country side. Of course the idea of handling a horse by himself was how he ended up breaking his arm, but that was healed now. Since riding horses was out of the question he tried to teach himself to cook what the chefs that worked for his uncle made. That hadn't ended well either since it involved fire, something that he knew he shouldn't play with. His uncle's shout brought him back to the current situation._

_"Sorry isn't going to cut it brat." his uncle growled taking out a flask from the pocket on the inside of his jacket and drinking the contents. "You almost ruined my career. Is that the thanks I get for taking your sorry ass in after your parents died? Hmm? I only took you in because I promised my younger brother that if anything happened to him that I would look out for you and Reno until you were old enough to take care of yourselves. And Elaine's mom would take care of Kairi since they said it would be best for the stupid girl to have a 'woman' figure whatever the fuck that means. I leave my job for a week to pick your sorry ass up and go to court and this is what I get! A little shit ass like you ruining my career!" _

_The boy let out a started yelp as his uncle slammed him against the wall knocking the air from his lungs. He felt his eyes water from the pain as his uncle grabbed his neck just tight enough so he couldn't make a sound, yet still breath. He brought his hands to the man's arm trying to silently beg the man to stop._

_"Do you know how hard I worked to get where I am? I am not going to loose it because of you! You are such an ungrateful little brat!" the man screamed as he brought his hand down on the redhead's face. The slapped kept ringing in the boy's ears and he could taste something metallic in his mouth. A small whimper was all he could manage to get out as the tears ran down his face. He wanted his uncle to stop. He wanted his older brother his missed so much to come rescue him. But his wishes didn't come true. His uncle continued to beat him and his brother never came. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine himself anywhere, anywhere but here. However the constant sting of pain would always bring him back to reality. _

_The boy felt his uncle's grip disappear allowing him to slid down the wall and curl into a little ball sobbing. Everything hurt. It hurt to cry. It hurt to just lay there on the floor. A hand gripped his hair yanking him up so he could face his uncle. He could smell the alcohol on his uncle now that they were breaths apart from each other's faces._

_"God you look so much like Elaine." his uncle whispered, "You're the only one who got her eyes." The boy just stared into his uncle's cold blue eyes not understanding what he saw stir within them. He didn't even know why his uncle would suddenly bring up he had his mother's eyes._

_"I have one more thing planned for you." the man laughed coldly, "I wasn't originally going to do it, but your eyes remind me so much of Elaine's I can't help myself." The redhead noticed something drastically change in his uncle and was now more afraid than ever._

_"I'm sorry," the boy whimpered, "I really didn't..." He was cut off by a violent slap to his face causing him to fall to the floor since his uncle now let go of his hair. _

_"Get up you worthless piece of shit!" his uncle screamed as the man's boot met the boy's ribs causing him to cry out in pain._

_"Please uncle stop!" the boy cried, "please it hurts!" _

_"You haven't even started to feel pain," the man laughed as he dragged the boy to the bed and threw him on it. "I'm going to enjoy this, but I doubt you will." The boy didn't even have time to prepare for what was coming next. All he felt was such a great pain that everything went black._

_~0~0~0~0~0~0~_

_Watery green eyes opened to look at his room lit up by the sun's light. The boy didn't know what time it was and didn't even care. His entire body hurt from his uncle beating him the night before, but what was worse was the pain coming from his rear. He didn't even know how or why it hurt so much, but if he even shifted his legs ever so slightly so much pain would go through his body that he would be on the verge of blacking out again. _

_Gently he touched his exposed bottom with his hand so he could pull up his pajama bottoms when he felt something wet and sticky. He brought his hand back to examine the mixture of red and white on his fingers. He knew what the red was, but not even the faintest clue what the white was. All he knew was that it was this mixture that caused him to hurt so much._

_The boy's arm limply fell to the side of the bed not even bothering to fix his pajamas anymore. He closed his eyes and tried to will everything away, but it didn't help. He hated his uncle for doing this to him. He hated his brother for not coming to rescue him from this nightmare. He hated his parents for dying and putting him in this situation to begin with. All he wanted was to go back to the time when everything was perfect. When his parents were still alive, his brother was there to protect him. Kairi would follow his every move and look up to him the way he looked up to Reno._

_"Kairi...Reno" he sobbed burying his face in his pillow. He only hoped that Kairi wasn't going through this same torture. That their grandmother was taking good care of her. He didn't move from his bed for the rest of the day and cried himself to sleep that night. From that day forward, he never left his room, not even to eat in fear that his uncle would beat him again._

**~0~**

Axel shot up in bed breathing heavily, red strands of hair plastered to his tear stained face. Terrified green eyes glanced around the familiar room that he shared with the snoring blonde next to him. He took a few deep breaths trying to relax and tell himself that all of that was over. It was in the past and didn't matter, but the nightmare had been so vivid. It had been at least two years since he had this certain nightmare. At the time he didn't understand what happened to him, but later he did and it disgusted him. A shiver ran through his body as the images started to once again repeat in his head. He glanced the clock, 7:30 a.m. Class started in an hour and a half and he didn't even finish his homework. He let out a heavy sigh not even caring anymore since it was going to be the first homework assignment he didn't do for that class.

He got up to take a shower, hoping the hot water would calm his nerves some. However the phone started to ring so he took the detour to the kitchen to answer it before his roommate woke. He feared his life if Demyx ever got up early because of something like this. Shaking his head, he picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Axel answered.

"Axel," his boss's voice replied. "A full time stripping position has opened up and I want you to fill it."

"Who quit?" the redhead asked curious as to why the sudden change. He glanced at the clock on the microwave that read 7:32. His shift had only ended three and a half hours ago, so why was Xemnas calling him now? Not to mention he had work again today at eight so he was certain something like this could wait.

"Chixalem," Xemnas answered not really seeming to care. "He was supposed to open the show tonight. I need you to come in to work another double to fill his shift. You will start at four again." Axel tensed at having to strip again, but for a longer period while he was still recovering from being sick. It was horrible working just a half hour last night, but he needed the money.

"I will be there at four," Axel sighed still tired from not getting much sleep.

"Good," his boss said. "Oh and Axel,"

"Yes?" the redhead asked almost scared to even know.

"Your blonde friend," Xemnas said in a low tone, "I believe his name is Roxas Strife, left his college I.D. card here. Could you tell him that we have it at the club?"

"I can just take it to him." Axel suggested. He wanted to ask his boss how he would know the two of them knew each other, but was afraid. He had learned a long time ago never to question Xemnas because often the truth wasn't pretty.

"You know the policy Axel," the club manager scolded. "Just let him know we have it and he needs to come pick it up." The redhead let out a sigh not really wanting to deal with the blonde more than what was needed. His eyes glanced at the trash can with the piece of paper Roxas had given him a few hours ago.

"Yes sir," he sighed, "I will, see you at four." There was no answer from his boss, just the click of him hanging up. He pressed the end button and the stared at the phone for a moment before looking back at the trash can that had Roxas' number. He didn't want to use the blonde's number because that meant that the blonde would have his number. However, when dealing with Xemnas it was always best to just do as one was told otherwise there would be serious consequences and he couldn't loose his job right now.

Axel let out a sigh as he crossed the living room to the small trash can by the door. The piece of paper smiled up at him as he plucked it out of the trash and turned it over to reveal Roxas' phone number. He knew it probably wasn't wise to call the blonde this early in the morning, so he figured he wait a bit before calling. Beside, all he wanted to do was go back to bed and skip his morning class. All in all, he was seriously thinking about just going back to bed, but he knew his professor wasn't one who looked kindly on absences. His eleven o'clock class was a bit different since his professor was willing to work with her students if things came up. Her reasoning was that she was once in college and knows how it is going to school and having to work.

He figured that he could miss his eleven o'clock class since she would understand if he explained it to her, but he would have to go to his nine o'clock. Taking out his cell phone he flipped it open and typed in Roxas' number to save it. He would call the blonde before he went to bed after his nine o'clock class. Until then, he would eat, take a shower and maybe do his homework if he had time. With a sigh he went through his morning routine not looking forward having to call Roxas in a few hours.

**~0~**

Roxas let out a yawn as he stared up at his blank ceiling attempting to wake up. Blinking a few time to get the sleepiness out of his eyes he realized that his alarm clock wasn't going off. Blue eyes glanced over at the clock which was blank. He shot up out of bed and grabbed his cell phone to see what time it was. 10:30! He had missed his morning class and was positive that his professor wouldn't be too pleased about it. He let out a sigh as he collapsed bonelessly onto the bed once again looking up at the ceiling. Class was already over so it didn't matter. What was the point in worrying about it now? His other class was cancelled because the professor was going to a wedding this weekend and was leaving today so he could spend time with his sister before.

School was over for the week for the blonde meaning he had four days to do whatever he wanted. The thought of going back to Organization XIII crossed his mind since he wouldn't get to see Axel until monday. His face heated at the memories of the redhead pole dancing and stripping. He would love to see that again, but it didn't feel right either. A frustrated groan escaped his lips and he slapped himself on the forehead hoping it would make the images go away. They didn't.

To get his mind off the naughty things he was thinking, he got up to start cleaning. Even when he was home in Britain whenever he got too stressed with his pop star life he would clean. Blue eyes glanced around the bedroom which was pretty clean for the most part, but there were some clothes that needed to be washed. He could definitely vacuum. This was just his bedroom however and he was positive that there were other things elsewhere in the dorm that needed some cleaning. But first thing was first, start the laundry since he could be working on other things while his clothes were washing. He glanced over at the crinkled bed sheets on his bed knowing he should wash those as well, but he didn't want to. When he had gone to bed earlier this morning he realized that it smelled like the redhead. He shook his head noticing just how creepy he was sounding. Not really wanting to, he yanked off the sheets of his bed and stuffed them into the laundry basket.

Since he had his own private dorm, it also had its own washer and dryer which was nice. All he had to do was go down the hall and throw his dirty laundry into the wash before he started working on the rest of the dorm. He glanced at the living room with a scrunched nose at how dirty it was. Of course it would be messy from his friends being over two days ago, but he had been so worried about Axel that he didn't even think about it. He sighed as he went to the kitchen to the chemical cabinet underneath the sink so he could get his cleaning gear out. Once he had his blue rubber gloves on, he marched to the living room with furniture polish in one hand, and a rag, a feather duster, and lint roller in the other. He was ready to tackle the mess known as the living room.

First, he cleaned the table which had visible watermarks on it making him cringe. Gross. Once that task was complete he moved onto dusting the lamps, and little nicknacks scattered throughout the room. When he finished that he started to get all the lint off the sofa utterly disgusted by the time he had was on the third sheet.

_'Donna toki datte, Tada hitori de' _rang Roxas' phone causing him to jump in surprise. It continued to blare Hikari by Utada Hikaru as he darted into the bedroom to get to his phone before he missed the call.

"Hello?" Roxas answered out of breath and realizing he didn't even check the caller I.D.

"Roxas, it's Axel," said the redhead's familiar voice. The blonde let out a sigh of relief that at least it was someone he knew calling his phone. Even better it was Axel calling his phone. Butterflies started to flutter around in his stomach with hope that maybe the redhead would ask him if they could grab lunch together or something. So lost in his daydream he didn't even think to answer back.

"Roxas, are you still there?" the voice on the other end asked.

"What?" the blonde blinked as he came back to the present. "Oh sorry, I kind of spaced out."

"I didn't wake you up did I?" Axel asked. "I'm sorry if I did, I can..."

"No I was already up," Roxas interrupted. "I was just cleaning and was startled when I heard my phone ring."

"Oh," the redhead chuckled, "Well, I got a call from my boss. He said that they found your student I.D. at the club and wanted me to tell you to come pick it up." The blonde just blinked a few times as he slowly processed the information. He grabbed his wallet from the nightstand and looked through it to see if in fact his student I.D. was missing. It was. A question started to bubble up from within him and before he could stop himself he asked it.

"How did your boss know to tell you?" he asked knowing that the only time he had been with the redhead last night was in the parking lot, but he was sure that no one else was around.

"I don't really know," Axel admitted with a nervous chuckle, "Xemnas just has his ways of knowing things. Kind of like your friend Olette." Roxas had to agree that Olette did seem to always know everything and if she didn't, she made it a goal to find out. He figured that there would be other people like his brunette friend that knew everything about everyone. He froze. If this Xemnas knew about something so small about him knowing Axel, then maybe. He shook his head as he tried to comfort himself with the small odds of someone knowing him in this small city, well, besides his music professor.

"I'm sorry Roxas," Axel apologized, "I didn't mean to scare you. Look, he probably just saw you take me home on the security cameras they have in the parking lot." Roxas started to tremble at the thought of the paparazzi getting ahold of the security tapes. It would show him entering the club, leaving with his friends, only to come back to pick up one of the employees. He could see what the reporters would be saying about him. Oh god.

"Right," Roxas sighed trying to calm himself, but still that meant they had his picture. "I guess I will head over there sometime today." He paused thinking about how Axel probably had a shift today so since he was already heading back to the club he should at least offer him a ride.

"Okay, I will..." the redhead started to say goodbye.

"Wait!" the blonde shouted into the receiver, "When does your shift start? Since I'm already heading over there I could drop you off. That way you won't have to take the bus." There was such a long silence that he could have sworn that the other person had hung up, but suddenly there was an answer.

"I start at four," Axel sighed.

"Great, I will pick you up at three then!" Roxas exclaimed with excitement. A smile formed on his face that couldn't seem to go away since he was going to get to spend more time with his favorite professor. Well, Axel wasn't really his professor, but he might as well be.

"See you then." the redhead said before hanging up the phone.

Roxas hung up his phone and looked down at Axel's phone number disappear signaling the call had ended. He tapped the call button and saw the number pop up again at the top of all his recent calls. He tapped Axel's number and then tapped create new contact. His smile grew even wider once he saved the number under Axel's name. He let out a happy sigh as he just stared at Axel's number on his phone. True the redhead didn't call him to go get lunch or anything, but he still called. Ever since the beginning of the semester he had wanted to know more about the astronomy assistant. Now he was going to be taking Axel to work meaning they would get a chance to talk even more. He couldn't wait until three.

**~0~**

Axel hung up the phone and just stared at it wondering what in the world he was thinking. He had meant to just call Roxas and tell him to pick up his school I.D. Now the blonde was going to take him to work. He sighed as he leaned against the wall looking up at nothing in particular. He knew he should delete Roxas' number right now, maybe even call his cell phone company to have the number blocked, but the thought made him feel sick. He didn't want to cut his ties with the blonde just yet and he would still see him in astronomy on Monday nights anyway. There would be no avoiding him.

"Morning Axel," yawned his sleepy roommate as he entered the kitchen to make some coffee.

"Hey Demyx" he answered not really paying attention to the blonde. There was no point in even trying to start a conversation with the man until he had his coffee. Everyone who knew the musician well would know that he wasn't a morning person. Knowing that there was no reason for him to be in the kitchen anymore, Axel went to the bedroom instead so he could get some sleep before he had to get up and get ready for his shift. He was thankful that he wouldn't have to take the bus today since that meant he would have another hour of sleep and he knew he was going to need all the sleep he could get to make it through the night. Since he was going to be stripping for three hours of his shift because the first hour was getting ready. He wished that Roxas wouldn't stay, but he had an unsettled feeling in his stomach that the blonde would.

Not even bothering to change into his pajamas again he just plopped down on the bed and closed his eyes. However he couldn't fall asleep right away like he normally would when he was exhausted. It was frustrating because even though he really wanted to sleep he couldn't. He didn't know if it was because he was scared of having more nightmares from his past, or if it was because of everything that was happening with Roxas, or even both. He knew the reason for the nightmares was because he had to remind himself why no one would ever want to be with. He was disgusting. Not only because of what his uncle did to him, but also because of his scars. He was sure that Roxas didn't know he had scars because that was what the make-up was for. The only person that knew he had scars was Demyx because they were roommates. Of course when his roommate found out he asked if he had fought a lion or something to receive the scar on his back. If only it was something cool like that.

"Axel!" screamed Demyx from the kitchen. "The coffee pot is overflowing! I don't know what to, ouch!, do! Sssshiiiit, it's hot! it's hot!"

Axel groaned knowing that his idiot roommate probably put too many filters which wouldn't allow the water to seep through. Every so often this would happen, so this was nothing new, just routine. He commanded his body to get out of bed and dragged himself to the kitchen where Demyx was in the far corner trying to avoid the boiling water. He reached over the coffee machine and unplugged it causing it to stop boiling over.

"Demyx," Axel hissed, "How many times have I told you to only use one coffee filter when brewing coffee?"

"I did!" Demyx argued running over to the coffee machine to prove his point. Only to open it and find the entire stack of coffee filters in there. "I don't understand! I only took out one!" Axel knew where this was going and opened the cabinet where they kept the coffee filters to find only one left.

"You put the one back in the cabinet you idoit." he growled giving the mullet head a smack across the back of his head. "You know what, from now on I will brew coffee for you. This has happened one too many times. Now clean up the mess and do it quietly so I can sleep."

"Soooorrry," the blonde said rolling his eyes. "I will be sure not to wake up the sleeping beauty." Axel wanted to argue with the idiot who was his roommate, but sleep was more important. So instead he stormed into the bedroom and slammed the door shut hoping that this time around he would actually get some sleep. Once more he plopped down on the bed and closed his eyes, but when he did he saw his uncle. Green eyes shot open and glanced around the room just to be certain that his uncle wasn't there. A relieved sigh escaped him as he went back to resting on the bed. He wasn't going to get any sleep and he knew it. At least when he got home tomorrow he wouldn't have to go to class since it was friday and he didn't need to show up to work until four again. Maybe tomorrow would be better, he really hoped so.

He laid there listening to Demyx's curses as the idiot cleaned up the mess of coffee all over the kitchen. Then he heard the blonde take a shower before racing out of the apartment swearing he was going to be late. It was such a Demyx thing. Green eyes glanced over at the clock which read 12:15 p.m. He still had roughly another three hours before Roxas showed up, and another two before he had to get up and get ready. He closed his eyes slowly and cautiously hoping that his uncle's face wouldn't pop up again. It didn't which made him relax. He told himself that he would close his eyes just for a second then set the alarm, but by the time he finished that thought he drifted off to sleep.

**~0~**

_The redheaded boy was older, now in his mid-teens getting ready to go to the French boarding school that his uncle signed him up for. In a way he was relieved that he would be getting away from his uncle, but at the same time he really didn't want to go to a boarding school. He knew that his french wasn't the greatest and his uncle said that his accent was so horrible he wanted to vomit. Of course he would be made fun of while he was there for that, but at least he would have to... He shut his eyes tight trying to keep the memory from that one night out of his mind. It hadn't happened again, but he could see the way his uncle looked at him with a kind of longing. He knew now what his uncle had done to him and felt sick enough sometimes he would actually throw up. It was when he was remembering these things that he wouldn't eat for weeks because he didn't want to throw up every time. He had been to the hospital more times than he could count for anorexia and the people would try to understand why he was doing this to himself. _

_They would never understand. He knew that. It wasn't just to keep from throwing up that he didn't eat, but also to keep himself away from his uncle. He knew that if he was in the hospital that his uncle couldn't touch him, so he kept refusing to eat. He just had a feeling that his uncle would rape him again. Beating he could take, but both he coudn't Eventually though his uncle would get sick of him being the hospital and bring him back to the manor. Of course every time he was brought back 'home' his uncle would scream at him, beat him, then lock him in his room. He made sure never to resist, and never, never look into his uncle's eyes. He remembered that was what caused his uncle to rape him, and to avoid that again he never looked at the man directly. _

_Green eyes looked out the window at the garden that he had always loved to look at. It always reminded him of before the accident, when he was actually happy. He missed his sister, he missed his brother, but they had never even bothered to contact him or even come to visit like they had all promised. Despite missing them, he grew to hate them as well. He hated Reno more than Kairi because she was too young to do much traveling by herself, but Reno had no excuse. _

_The teenager clenched his jaw stubbornly to keep his tears away. He hated crying. It was when he cried that his uncle would beat even more for not being a man and sucking it up. He knew that before his uncle had gotten his dream job that he had to be in the military for a while which made standing up to him impossible. The redhead knew that even if he wasn't just skin and bones that he still wouldn't stand a chance. There was a soft pitter patter of rain on the window as the pregnant rain clouds finally gave way. He hated the rain. Every rain drop reminded him of being touched and beat when he didn't want it._

_A car's lights in the distance caught his attention. He knew it was probably the butler back from his trip to the store to get his uncle's favorite coffee. Afterwards the butler would take him to the boarding school where he would be staying all year except the summer where he would have to return here. The school wasn't in session during the holidays, but they let students stay there because most of their parents didn't have time to take vacations. Of course he didn't have any parents, just an uncle that hated him. He would much rather stay at the school than have to come back to the manor he hated so much._

_He looked at the one suitcase he had that was only filled with clothes because that was all he had. His uncle had been complaining about buying so many clothes because of his constant growing. Not like he had a choice in the matter. There were voices coming from downstairs and he knew it was his uncle and the butler probably discussing him going to boarding school. He curled himself up in a little ball in the corner of the bed and rested his head on his knees. He just wanted to leave already. _

_There were footsteps coming up the stairs and he knew that it was either the butler or his uncle. He was hoping for the butler, but when he heard the bang on the door he knew otherwise._

_"Hurry up and get the fuck out!" his uncle screamed still banging on the door. "I have important guests coming over and I don't want your dumb ass to be here!"_

_The teenager didn't answer, just grabbed his suitcase and opened the door to face his uncle. The man gave him an annoyed look before harshly grabbing him and dragging him to the front doors. He didn't resist or even say anything knowing it would only hurt more later on if he did. The butler was outside waiting with the back door open for him to enter._

_"You better do well in school." the teenager's uncle hissed, "Or else." His uncle didn't even need to finish the threat because the redhead knew what would happen. _

_"Yes uncle," he said quietly before heading to the car. He didn't even look back as the car pulled away to take him to his new home until summer. He only wished he didn't have to return ever._

_~0~0~0~0~0~0~_

_It was the winter holidays and the redhead watched his fellow classmates leave to be with their families through his dorm window. He wasn't the only one who was staying, a good eighth of the school stayed, but he couldn't help but wish he could spend the holidays with his family. That would never happen though. He figured he might as well be alone in this world since if he died he doubted anyone would miss him._

_"Axel!" shouted the happy voice of his only friend, Eugene. "Guess what?"_

_"What?" he asked with a heavy sigh. Eugene wouldn't be staying with the small fraction of students since his family was going on vacation to Greece. He wished his friend could stay since everyone else was mean to him or just ignored him all together. Eugene was popular and well liked, but the reason the two of then were friends was because they shared a somewhat similar past. The only difference was Eugene moved out of his father's house and to his mother's. Axel was stuck with his uncle._

_"My mom said you could come with us to Greece!" the silver blonde haired teenager grinned practically bouncing up and down with excitement. The redhead looked at his friend with his mouth open not even knowing what to say or how to react. Then remembered that he would need to get his passport from his uncle and had a feeling he wouldn't like it. _

_"My uncle has my passport." he sighed. "You know he won't let me go." His friend just kept grinning with a devious smile on his face. _

_"But he doesn't. The school does." Eugene grinned. "We are going to the British museum when the holidays are over so the school needs all the freshmen's passports and I took the opportunity to liberate yours from the office." He held up the little book with an even bigger grin. "Being loved by the entire staff goes a long way."_

_ "And what did you tell your mother?" Axel asked wanting to make sure everything was solid in this plan. _

_"Oh, you know. I asked her if you could come. She gave me the basic run down that it had to be okay with your uncle. So I intercepted the call she made and pretended to be your uncle." the blonde's brown eyes beamed with triumph. "She'll never know if we don't say anything."_

_"But I will," said a cold voice from the doorway. Both teenagers froze. "Leave," the man said to Eugene. Eugene just nodded and left the room, not before giving his friend a sorry look. Axel knew it wasn't his friend's fault, that he had indeed tried, but his uncle's unexpected arrival had thrown everything off._

_"Uncle..." he whispered avoiding eye contact. "I wasn't expecting you."_

_"I changed my mind." the man said, "We are leaving. You have plenty of clothes back at the manor." The teenager nodded wondering what changed his uncle's mind and was afraid. He silently followed the man to the car where there was no butler waiting for them. Odd. That's when he remembered that during the holidays that all except one chef and maid had the time off, but they would be off by seven each night. He felt his heart stop. Surely his uncle wouldn't... He wanted to ask the reason for his uncle wanting him to come back during the holidays, but was afraid. His green eyes looked out the car window as the school shrank into the distance. He would have to come up with a plan to avoid his uncle, but what._

_"So when were you going to tell me about your little trip to Greece?" his uncle said coldly lacking any kind of emotion. Green eyes looked up into the rearview mirror to see ice cold blue look back with a lustful glare. The teenager quickly looked away regretting ever looking in the mirror to begin with. His breathing picked up as he curled into a ball wanting this to be just a horrible nightmare._

_"Answer me!" the man shouted, but the redhead still didn't answer. "Fine, be that way. Once we get home you will answer me." The rest of the car ride was silent, but once car came to a stop Axel darted out of it and into the manor. He didn't want to be beaten. He ran into bathroom upstairs and locked the door knowing that no one had the key to the bathroom. The lock was there so the maids wouldn't walk in on others on accident. _

_"Open the damn door Axel!" His uncle screamed as he banged on the door. "Open the fucking door!" The redhead scooted to the far corner of the large bathroom and curled up into a ball once more covering his ears with his hands. He wanted to wake up from this nightmare. He just sat there in the corner as his uncle continued to bang on the door. _

**~0~**

"Axel," said a voice followed by a knock on the door.

Axel let out a sigh as he opened his eyes to stare up at the ceiling cover in posters of the universe. There was another knock on the door as his green eyes glance at the alarm clock next to the bed. It read 3:10 causing him to jump out of bed in a panic. He was going to be late for work and Xemnas was going to kill him. The bus wouldn't get him there until four thirty and that was if he made the bus that was coming in twenty minutes.

"Axel?" said a familiar voice followed by another knock on the door. The redhead went to the door to see who it was and was surprised to see Roxas standing there.

"Roxas, what are you doing here?" Axel asked completely confused.

"I was going to take you to work today remember." the blonde answered.

"Oh, right." the redhead sighed smacking himself in the head. "Why don't you come in for a second. I forgot to set my alarm." He couldn't believe he had forgotten, but then again with the nightmare he just had he wasn't really thinking all that clearly either. He opened the door for the blonde as he darted into the small apartment to grab what he needed for work.

Roxas entered the apartment and looked around cringing at how messy it was. There was a pile of laundry on the sofa, empty soda bottles and pizza boxes scattered about, dirty plates and cups just left in various places and wrappers everywhere. He couldn't imagine living in such a mess, but he remembered how tired the redhead was the previous night and could imagine that cleaning was the last thing on his mind. He knew it would be the same for him if he was tired.

"Okay, I'm ready." Axel said only holding his phone, employee I.D., keys and wallet. It wasn't like he needed anything else. Roxas just gave him a smile and led the redhead to where the car was parked in front of the apartment. The two males entered the car in silence neither knowing what to say to the other.

"Thank you," the redhead finally said as he watched the the scenery outside go by. He still didn't know why he agreed to let the blonde take him to work, but he was grateful. If he was late Xemnas would have been furious and he was almost positive that he would never hear the end of it.

"You're welcome," Roxas smiled. "What time do you get off? I'll come pick you up."

"I'll take the bus it is fine." Axel sighed not wanting to inconvenience the student anymore than he already has.

"It is not fine!" the blonde shouted. "The bus is dangerous so late at night." He could only imagine the creeps that took the bus that late.

"I've been doing it for years," the redhead replied with a sigh still looking out the window.

"If you won't tell me when you are off I will just wait for you." Roxas threatened with a grin. He didn't know if he would go inside the entire time or just wait in the car. A blush ran rampant across his face at the thought of watching the assistant teacher strip again. Maybe going inside to wait would be a bad idea.

Axel looked over at the blonde at that noticing how his face went from a cocky grin to a shy blush. He knew what the boy was thinking and couldn't help but softly chuckle at it. Last night Roxas had seen him only strip for thirty minutes, if he went tonight he would see much more. Normally he didn't like to imagine the people watching him and was often thankful for the bright lights the highlighted the stage which made everyone pretty much invisible, but now more than ever he wanted to see the boy's reaction. He was almost positive that the blonde wanted to touch him like all the other pigs that were in the strip club, but he didn't. That intrigued him. He wasn't used to people in the strip club not grabbing at him even when he wasn't stripping. Green eyes caught and held blue.

"You know," he purred seductively, "I will be stripping for the first four hours of my shift. Feel free to stay and watch." Roxas felt like all the blood in his body rushed to his face and suddenly the car was much too hot for his liking. He knew his passenger could see his face, and it wasn't like he could turn his face away since he had to watch the road. So instead he focused on the road and road only as he tried to calm himself down.

Axel chuckled softly knowing that the blonde would probably not want to stay anymore, but there was a slight chance he would stay to enjoy the show. Though somehow he felt that having others watch him as well wasn't as satisfying. He wanted just the blonde to watch and no one else. He shut his eyes trying to get his mind away from such dangerous thoughts. Getting attached was dangerous. His past was something that would scare anyone away and he knew almost nothing about the boy driving. His rule was to never trust people, especially nice people because they seemed to only want one thing. Even though his mind was telling him not to trust Roxas, another part of him was begging him to trust the boy. Eventually the little devil and angel on his shoulder chose to compromise and came to the conclusion to get to know Roxas first.

"So what do your parents do for a living?" he asked knowing that it must be pretty important since it was more than obvious the boy was rich. The question brought Roxas out of his focus on the road and back to the current situation.

"My mom is a librarian, and my dad is just an office worker." he answered truthfully.

"Your dad must be pretty high up then," Axel commented considering just a regular office worker probably wouldn't make enough to pay for a private dorm.

"No, he is just a guest relations worker." Roxas smiled glad that the redhead was finally starting to lighten up. It was nice to have just a normal conversation.

"Oh?" the redhead said with a raised eyebrow now looking over at the blonde once again. "His company must pay him well."

"No, nothing too much, but enough to live comfortably." the boy answered, "My mom doesn't need to work at the library, but she got bored once all of us started school so she got the job."

"So why your own private dorm?" Axel inquired knowing that they weren't cheap in the slightest. If he was on a scholarship they wouldn't give it to him so that was out of the question. His family obviously had some money to spare, but not that kind of money. Things didn't quite add up.

"I paid for it." Roxas answered then tensed when he realized what he said. That answer alone opened up a whole new can of worms that he wasn't quite sure he wanted to discuss with the redhead just yet. He was certain that Axel wouldn't tell anyone his secret, but he didn't want to risk that just yet.

Axel just stared at the blonde wanting to ask how, but the way the boy tensed after he answered made him think otherwise. He was almost positive that the boy didn't work, but maybe he was a drug dealer, though he seriously doubted it. The blonde didn't strike him as the kind of person to do illegal things, but again, he didn't know the boy well enough to entirely rule it out either. The sudden rigidness of the boy after he said it meant that the reason he had all that money was something he didn't want people to know about.

"What about your family?" Roxas asked trying desperately to change the topic. He knew that the redhead's parents died in a car crash and that he went to go stay with his uncle afterwards, but otherwise he knew nothing.

"What about them?" Axel asked bitterly. The blonde cringed at the bitterness almost wishing he hadn't changed the topic. It was obvious that the redhead's past was a touchy topic which made sense since his parents had died and he had to move to live with an uncle that didn't take care of him.

"If you don't want to talk about them I understand," he sighed, "I'm sorry I brought it up."

"Whatever," the redhead muttered as he clenched his fists in his lap as the nightmare he had just had started to flash in his mind. Roxas glanced over at the now silent passenger and noticed the pained look written all over the redhead's face.

"So what do you like to do in your free time?" he asked trying to get the conversation back on a lighter topic. "I like to play tennis even though I'm horrible at it. I like to play RPG video games, sometimes racing when I want to play against people. I am also undefeated at DDR." Axel laughed at the last thing the blonde said. One night after the club closed everyone was dragged to Marluxia's apartment to play DDR. It became a kind of tradition that every Saturday night they would go have dance battles, but then the people of the apartments complained and they couldn't do it anymore. Surprisingly, he had been really good at it which was how he was suggested as an extra stripper.

"I think I could beat you at DDR." he said smugly.

"Do I sense a challenge?" Roxas smirked mischievously. "How about we make a bet?"

"A bet?" Axel blinked having a feeling it wasn't going to be a basic money bet. "What are the stakes?"

"If I win, I get to take you to and from work without complaint." the blonde grinned like a cat who got the robin. Now the redhead wouldn't have to take the bus anymore which made him happy.

"If you loose?" the older male smirked pretty confident that he would win.

"That's up to you." Roxas replied. Axel could hear the cynical devil on his shoulder tell him that his bet should be to tell the blonde never to see him again. It would be safer that way. However, the bright angel's voice overpowered the opponent and before he could even think about he was going to say it was already out of his mouth.

"If I win, you have to go on ten dates with me and answer everything I ask you honestly. I will know if you are lying so don't even try." the redhead said hearing the devil on his shoulder scream at him for being so stupid, but he really wanted to know more about the blonde. He was tired of always being alone with no one really to talk to. Roxas was so surprised he slammed on the breaks giving both the passenger and driver slight whiplash. Thankfully no one was behind them, but there were some more cars coming so he pulled off to the side of the road quickly then put the car in park with the engine still running. Wide blue eyes just looked at the redhead not even knowing what to say or even noticing the effects of the whiplash. Now he didn't know if he wanted to win. The only problem was that he would have to answer everything honestly and he knew that the question of how he paid for his dorm would come up. He didn't know if he wanted Axel to know just yet. Then again if he won every time they went to and from the club they would get to talk kind of like a date. Either way it was almost a win, win situation for him, but he didn't know which win was the better option.

"Deal," he smirked, "But I seriously doubt you are going to win. When do you want to have the dance off?"

"How about tonight since you are going to be stalking me until I get off anyways." Axel chuckled not really caring if this certain blonde stalked him. He seriously didn't know how the blonde had wiggled his way in so quickly and even though it scared him, part of him didn't mind. He smiled when he saw the blonde once again blush.

"Deal," Roxas said when he finally managed to find his voice. He put the car into gear and then drove the short distance to the club. When he pulled into the parking lot he looked over at Axel.

"Do you mind telling me when you get off?" he asked innocently and then smirked, "Or do I have to stalk you?"

"I get off at four again," Axel laughed as he exited the door. "Don't forget to come in to get your student I.D."

"Oh right!" Roxas exclaimed completely forgetting that had been the main reason why he was coming back to the strip club. He exited the car and locked it before following the tall redhead into the strip club. It was weird seeing the parking lot almost empty because even when he picked the redhead up last night there had been plenty of cars still there.

Axel led the blonde around the back to the employee entrance knowing that the front door wasn't open yet so people wouldn't wander in before opening. He knew that Xemnas would probably get mad at him, but he never said when to have the blonde drop by. When he didn't see Xemnas or Saix right away he figured they were in the manager's office. So he led the boy through the stripper's break/ prep area, down a hallway and to the manager's office which had the door closed. Not wanting to walk in on anything he didn't want to see, he gently knocked on the door. It took a couple of minutes before the door actually opened with a furious Xemnas.

"What do you want Axel?" the manager growled.

"I brought my friend to get his student I.D. card like you asked." the redhead answered with a frown. He was surprised to see his manager's expression change completely which he didn't like. It meant that the man was up to something and it only meant Roxas would probably be hurt in the end.

"Oh," Xemnas smirked as he looked behind his employee to see a familiar blonde. He signaled Saix to bring him the card and then handed it to the boy. "It is a _pleasure_ to meet you." His smirk grew when the singer gave him a deer in headlights expression.

Roxas felt his heart stop as he looked into the burning golden eyes of the manager of the strip club. The way the man had said 'it was a pleasure to meet you' hinted at the fact he knew who he was or maybe he was just over analyzing things. He gave the man a well practiced smile.

"Thank you," he said in his rehearsed voice he used to all the fans he once had, "I'm so glad you found my student I.D. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't found it."

"You're welcome," Xemnas answered with a smirk still on his lips. "Please come again and enjoy the show."

"I will try." Roxas answered automatically, "I have to get going though. I have to meet my friends for a tennis match." Axel knew the blonde was lying, but didn't comment on it. He would have time to ask later.

"Come on, I'll show you the way out," Axel sighed faking frustration so Xemnas wouldn't think that they knew each other too well. He had never trusted the man and he wanted to keep Roxas away from him as much as possible. He gently took the paralyzed blonde's shoulders and turned him around before escorting him back outside.

"Are you okay?" he asked once they were outside. Roxas looked up at Axel then away bitting his lower lip. He didn't know how to explain his sudden fear without giving away who he really was.

"Yeah, he just kind of scared me a little," he answered with a soft sigh. "I'll see you at four then. Call me if you get off early."

"Okay I will," Axel said. He grabbed Roxas' arm as the boy turned to go back to his car. "And Roxas, be careful." Roxas nodded wondering what had caused the redhead to say such a thing. When the grip on his arm was loosened he gave the other male a smile before going back to his car. Once he go inside his phone vibrated notifying him he had a text. He unlocked his phone's screen to see it was from Axel and dragged the text message puzzle piece to the empty part to read the message.

_'Don't pick me up at the club tonight. I will meet you at the 7/11 at the end of the block. It will be safer there since there are always people around and be sure to stay in the car with the doors locked and windows rolled up.'_ Roxas raised an eyebrow at the message he got from the redhead. Maybe he hadn't imagined the way the manager had been looking at him. A chill went down his spine as he remembered all the crazy fans that would stalk him and wait outside his home. Fans that were so obsessed with him that they would find a napkin he used and worship it as if it had some magical powers. He let out a heavy sigh knowing that it would probably be best to avoid the manager of the strip club. He clicked on the window where he could type and the keyboard appeared on the screen.

_'okay,'_ he replied to the text message then put his phone on its charging dock before pulling out of the driveway. He was so distracted by everything that was going on that he didn't even notice a car that was following him.

**~0~**

Axel let out a frustrated sigh as he watched the blonde go to his car. If Xemnas was taking interest in the boy then nothing good was going to come of it. He pulled out his phone to text Roxas to make sure he knew not to meet him at the club in fear that Xemnas might use that against him. For all he knew Xemnas thought he was selling himself, which wasn't forbidden, but if they were making money Xemnas was supposed to get a share. He shivered at the thought of selling himself then shook his head and focused on more important matters.

He pulled out his phone from his pocket and texted Roxas to meet him at the 7/11 at the end of the block along with staying in the car with the windows rolled up and doors locked. If anything happened to Roxas he knew it would be his fault and didn't know if he could ever forgive himself. The time clock changed to four and he took his employee I.D. out to swipe it letting the system know he was now on the clock. His phone vibrated in his hand and he flipped it open to see one word, 'okay'. It was like a mountain full of rubble had been removed from him with that single word. He wasn't sure if the blonde was going to agree and choose to stay for the show, but it was obvious that he had sensed something was off as well.

"Hey Axie, looking at a love text?" teased a voice behind him followed by someone reaching over to grab his phone.

"Marly give it back!" Axel shouted trying to get his phone back from the pink haired man who was always into everyones business. Despite his attempts, Marluxia was able to avoid him and read the two texts. A delicate eyebrow as raised at the one that Axel had sent.

"Interesting," Marluxia stated with an intrigued smile. "Either our little Axie has a sugar daddy and doesn't want to share or maybe a boyfriend? You know Xemnas will want a share if you are..."

"I'm not!" the redhead screamed ripping his phone out of the other stripper's hands. "He's just a friend okay."

"No need to get angry sugar," the pink haired man smiled, "Just remember that Xemnas knows everything." He gave the redhead a wink before disappearing into the showers. Axel let out a frustrated sigh knowing that now everyone and their mother was going to know about the blonde somehow. They may not know what Roxas looks like, but they will be spreading rumors quicker than sexually transmitted diseases. He knew one of the rumors was going to be that someone from the last show had taken an interest in him and offered him money for his body. Eventually Xemnas would hear and then he would have to be careful because his manager would be watching his every move. He was going to have to win that game of DDR to keep the blonde from picking him up. If people found out it would only lead to more questions and more rumors.

He slapped himself on the forehead wondering how in the world he had even gotten into such a mess. He was never the center of the gossip wheel and now he was in the middle spinning out of control. The little devil on his shoulder was right to push the blonde away and normally he would have listened. Why had he listened to the other this time?

"Hurry up and get ready Axel," hissed the familiar voice of his manager from behind.

"Sorry sir," Axel sighed and rushed to get ready by first taking a shower. After he took his shower he had one of the other strippers help him put the special make-up over his scar on his back. The scars on his arms were small enough that no one ever noticed, but the one on his back was obvious. He could already hear the music playing and the guests talking amongst themselves. Four hours of stripping with a fifteen minute break, then he would be able to just bar tend the rest of his shift. Now that he was going to be a full time stripper at the club he was going to enjoy what few bar tending shifts he had left.

Xemnas started shouting out which stages each stripper was going to perform on which was normally Saix's job. Axel found that odd considering that he was positive the blue haired man had been in the manager's office when he took Roxas to get his I.D. Something was up. He listened for his assignment as he got his phone out of the locker to text Roxas, but before he could hit the first letter his manager ripped it out of his hand.

"Get in line Axel," his manager ordered in a low growl.

"It's kind of an emergency sir I..." the redhead tried to explain only to be interrupted.

"I don't care," Xemnas said in a tone that left no room for argument, "You are mine until the end of your shift except during your breaks and lunch. So until your first break you do as you are told. Now go strip."

Axel wanted more than anything at the moment than to argue, but he knew it wasn't go to lead to anything good. He would probably loose his job or his manager would make him clean the bathrooms with a toothbrush for the rest of his employment. Without saying anything he took his phone back and put it in the locker before running over to where the two other strippers who would be with were. The announcement ended and the music started up again telling the strippers to take the stage.

He walked onto the stage closest to the backstage entrance and started to do the routine. It was automatic for him since he had filled in enough times so it let his mind wander. All he could think of was that Roxas was in danger because Saix wasn't here at the club. He tried to come up with other reasons for the blue haired man's disappearance, but the more he thought about it the worse his reasons got. Two hours, all he had to do was strip then pole dance for two hours before he could have his break and text Roxas. Calling the blonde was too risky since people could overhear, but texting was safe unless a certain pink haired man interfered.

Hands started to grab at him reminding him that he had to preform otherwise he would hear an earful from Xemnas. He closed his eyes for a brief couple of seconds to clear his mind of everything so it wouldn't bother him as much later. Only four hours then he would be done with this for the night. When he opened his eyes everything didn't matter anymore and the four hours just blew by so much so that he had forgotten to warn Roxas on his break.

Axel let out a sigh of relief as the cool water ran over his body. He was exhausted and wondered how anyone could do that for hours on end. Of course he was going to have to get used to it since he was going to be a full time stripper, but for now all he had to do was help bus the tables for an hour before finishing his shift bar tending. Afterwards he got changed into his skin tight pants and fishnet shirt before grabbing something to eat. He still had fifteen minutes and a cup of top ramen was sounding good right now. He took a seat in the far corner of the kitchen area away from any groups that were eating together. It wasn't that he hated everyone, but that he just never really connected with anyone. Besides, he liked to be by himself after stripping to clear his thoughts before his break was over.

"Axel!" shouted a familiar annoying voice causing the redhead to look up and spot his roommate. Of course Demyx never understood what privacy was so he just pranced over with his lunch and sat down at the table.

"DJ tonight?" Axel asked even though he already knew the answer.

"Yep," the mullet head grinned. "Saw you stripping. Looks like you were popular tonight. It must be why Xemnas gave you the full time position that opened up."

"Must be," the redhead muttered trying to focus on just eating his lunch and forget about how one guest from table four was more _friendly_ than the others. He knew that he would need to steer clear of that table because if he was helping with tables after stripping the guests tended to get a little too personal.

"Axel! Are you even listen to me?" Demyx complained with a pout when he finally got the redhead's attention.

"No," Axel said truthfully not wanting to deal with his roommate even more than he had to.

"I said that you are the center of the gossip wheel right now." the blonde whispered. "They say that you are, you know..."

"I am not," the redhead interrupted with a growl. "And if you supply anything to the gossip it will be the last thing you do." His roommate raised his hands with a nervous smile as if he was about to get mugged.

"Fine, fine," Demyx sighed as he brought his hands down and leaned across the table, "but you know being picked up by someone is all the people need here." Axel clenched his jaw and fists wanting so bad to hit his roommate for implying something that he already said he wasn't doing. No, that would have to wait for later and then maybe when the mullet head was out he would break the musician's sitar.

"Demyx shut up," he hissed through his teeth, "Otherwise you will be planning your sitar's funeral very very soon." That got the blonde to shut up like a charm. He glance up at the clock and realized that he had to start to help bus tables. Without a word to his roommate he left the kitchen and went to grab a bussing tub so he could collect the dirty plates. The club was always busier on Thurdays through Saturdays because of the college and tonight was no exception. While he was stripping he couldn't see how busy it was with the blinding lights, but now that he was just bussing he could see just how busy it was. It made it hard to navigate his way through the mob of people who go from their tables to the dance floor then back to their table to enjoy more stripping.

Someone pushed him almost causing him to loose his balance, but at least his bussing tub wasn't full so it wasn't like he was going to break the dishes. It also didn't help that he was in the darkest corner of the club that the lights didn't quite hit. Once again someone pushed him, but this time with enough force to slam him against the wall allowing the air in his lungs to escape. He gasped for air with a wince feeling a strong grip on his shoulders preventing him from escaping. Before his brain could catch up to what was happening, he felt something wet on his neck and a hand slide down from his shoulder.

"Get off!" Axel shouted attempting to push the person off of him. "You're only allowed to touch the strippers."

"But you are a stripper," the man purred into his ear before licking the shell. Axel froze. Green eyes finally looked at the much larger man pinning him to the wall. He knew he was tall, but this man was massive.

"Stop," was all he could get out as memories of his uncle doing something similar started to flood his memory. He knew that no matter how much he struggled he wasn't going to win, but still tried anyways.

"I know you want this," the man chuckled against his neck sending chills throughout the redhead's body. "You are a stripper after all." The man's hand traveled lower and Axel desperately tried to stop that hand with his own. The man slammed the redhead back into the wall even harder this time causing Axel to see stars. Axel felt his hands being grabbed large hands and forced them above his head into one hand. The other hand started to wander once again free from distraction causing him to squirm under the touch. Tears started to form in his eyes as the hand got lower and lower, but before it could go any lower the man was removed from him.

"He isn't stripping now so you aren't allowed to touch him." Xaldin said in a stern voice with a similar expression. "Get out. If you come back and try something like that again you will be banned." The man glared daggers at the large black haired man before storming out of the club. Axel let out a sigh of relief as he slid down the wall since his legs didn't want to work anymore.

"Come on Axel, let's get you to the back." Xaldin sighed as he helped the redhead up. The redhead plopped on the sofa slightly trembling from the experience, but most of all from the memories. He rested his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands trying to calm himself down. Something like this had never happened to him before, but he also had never stripped for longer than an hour or two.

"Here," said Xaldin holding a cup of orange juice, "Drink this, it will help." Axel just nodded and took the cup taking small sips not even really registering what he was doing. He was just glad that Xaldin had stepped in when he did otherwise it would have been like the memories that were starting to fade away in his head. Of course that was Xaldin's job to make sure no one got crazy and to protect the employees.

"Thank you," he whispered tightening his grip on the glass of orange juice.

"You're welcome," the black haired man sighed, "I'll let Xemnas know and you can take the rest of the night off."

"No it's okay," Axel said shaking his head and putting the glass on a table. "The guy is gone for the night I'll be fine." He stood up and was about to go back into the club, but a strong hand on his elbow stopped him.

"At least take five minutes to recover," Xaldin demanded, "and I won't take no for an answer." Axel knew he wasn't going to win the argument so he nodded and took a seat back down on the sofa with a heavy sigh. He was glad that Roxas hadn't decided to come to the club tonight, what would he think if he saw? Although with Xemnas acting weird he didn't really want the blonde to come anyways. Another sigh escaped his lips as he thought of how Roxas was too good for him. Roxas was a rich well mannered student and he was just a teacher's assistant who worked as a stripper with a disgusting past.

Eventually his five minutes were up and he went back to work, but this time he was just bar tending. Through the rest of his shift he put on his charming smile that would award him with more tips and got to know his customers. There were always the regulars and a few new people he didn't recognize, but he was just grateful he was behind a counter. Time seemed to fly while he was bar tending and before he knew it Luxord called last call and was taking away the keys of some people who were too drunk to drive before calling them a cab.

"Good old crazy Thursdays," Luxord grinned as he locked up the remaining keys in the draw making sure to write down the person's name. "Those college kids sure like to party. I guess all their partying makes up for you not partying at all."

"I have bills to pay and grades to keep up," Axel answered with a small smile, "Not much time for partying."

"Heard you got the full time stripping position, congrats" Luxord smiled as he put the alcohol away to be locked up.

"Thanks," the redhead answered not really knowing if he wanted the position anymore after tonight. Then again if all he was doing was stripping he would only be on the stage where people couldn't slam him against walls in the dark corners of the club. He shivered at the memory wishing it never happened like a lot of things in his life.

"Hey, I got it covered here," Luxord smiled, "Why don't you help the others clean the club. I heard it got pretty messy tonight. Kids can't handle their liquor." The two bar tenders laughed as they shook their heads knowing just how bad some people were. Axel knew exactly what the blonde man was saying and knew if it was a bad night that the waiters and bussing people had their hands full. So he finished his shift helping them clean up the large mess. Even with everyone helping, they barely finished on time which was very uncommon.

Axel let out a sigh of relief when he felt the cold night air hit his warm skin. Everyone said their goodnights as they headed their separate ways. He turned right to head to the 7/11 where he promised to meet Roxas and probably tell him that it would be the last time since he didn't trust Xemnas in the slightest.

As he was walking down the street he noticed someone coming in his direction and moved to the side to let the person pass. However, when the person was right next to him the person pushed him into the brick wall that surrounded a car dealership. The person removed his hood to reveal the same person who had attacked him in the bar.

"Why don't you come home with me tonight?" the man grinned holding the redhead in place with two strong hands on his shoulders. Axel could smell the liquor rolling off the man and could tell that he was drunk from the flushness of his face.

"Let go of me," he demanded when he had air back in his lungs. "I'm a stripper, not a whore." He tried to wiggle his way out of the man's grip, but it only caused the man's grip to tighten. He winced at the pain.

"Same thing," the man chuckled attempting to attack the redhead's neck. Axel put his hands on the man's chest to keep him from kissing his neck again.

"Stop!" Axel screamed as he tried to reach for his phone to call the police. Before he could dial the three numbers pain shot through his face as the man punched him on the left side of his face. The phone fell out of his hands and was kicked out of into the street. Right away the man grabbed his hands and secured them above his head leaving him even more helpless than before. The man's other hand automatically went for the belt and Axel closed his eyes knowing what was to come, but it never did. His hands were released and someone gently took his wrist. He opened his eyes to see Roxas there with wide watery eyes and pepper spray in his other hand.

"Axel come on!" he coughed because of the lingering scent of pepper. Axel didn't need to be told twice and followed the blonde two buildings down to the 7/11. They entered the car and drove away. Roxas let out a relieved sigh once they the 7/11 was no longer visible.

"Are you okay?" he asked finally looking over at the redhead noticing a nasty looking bruise blossoming his left cheek. "I'll call Olette," He knew that she would know if anything was broken because he knew little things, but not enough.

"It's fine," Axel replied with a heavy sigh as he buried his face in his hands. He didn't want the blonde to see him cry, but this happening twice in one day was too much. He hadn't had to deal with something like this since he left his uncle's care and now all those memories that used to blur together were all too clear. What hurt the most that he was just as helpless now as he was back then even though he was now a grown man.

Roxas wanted to say that it wasn't fine, but he didn't feel like arguing with the redhead. The rest of the car ride was silent and Roxas parked in his spot in the parking next to his dorm. He looked over at Axel who still had his face buried in his hands.

"Axel," he whispered placing a gently hand on the redhead's shoulder then instantly released it when he felt the redhead flinch. "Come on, let's go inside." Axel finally looked up and noticed that he wasn't outside his apartment, but outside the dorms where the blonde lived. He was going to argue that this was a bad idea, but they were already at the dorms and he knew the blonde was probably going to win in the end anyways. Right now he didn't want to go anywhere alone in the dark after what just happened. With a sigh he exited the car followed by Roxas who led him to the dorm. A gentle thumb wiped away some tears he didn't even know he had been crying.

"It's okay Axel," Roxas said trying to comfort the taller man. "Sit down and I'll get you something to drink okay? I'm going to call Olette so she can look at your face." He watched Axel just nod and sit down. It hurt to see him like this because he was used to the happy Axel that taught astronomy every Monday night. With a sigh he went into the kitchen to get some hot chocolate and took out his phone to call Olette.

"Roxas?" answered Olette with worry, "Are you okay? You weren't in a drunk driving accident where you? Did your car break? Did someone attack you?"

"I'm fine Olette," Roxas finally managed to get in. "But Axel isn't. He..." He wanted to tell Olette, but he couldn't summon the courage to do so. He had told her about picking Axel up tonight so that had been why she had been so worried to get a call this late.

"I'll be right over," the girl said immediately before hanging up the phone. Roxas sighed as he looked at his phone as if it would have all the answers in the world. It didn't. So instead he went back to making hot chocolate then back to the living room to give it to Axel.

"I made some hot chocolate," he offered, but the redhead just shook his head. "I leave it on the table then if you want it." He placed the mug on the table next to the chair wishing there was something more he could do. "If it makes you feel any better I'll pick you up each night." That seemed to bring the redhead back from wherever his mind had wandered.

"No," Axel stated lifting his head to stare into blue eyes. "I've been through this before, I can deal with it again. But I don't want you anywhere near that club." He remembered the way Xemnas had acted and that Saix had been missing the entire night. He didn't know why he suddenly remembered, but keeping the blonde safe was more important than what just happened to him. He had been through it before, he could deal with it again.

"What?" Roxas blinked completely thrown by everything the redhead had said. This had happened before? He clenched his jaw at that wondering what kind of messed up person would do something like that to him.

"It's dangerous at the club," the redhead answered thinking that's what had made Roxas ask the question.

"If anything you shouldn't be going back!" the blonde screamed, "If this has happened before then it is too dangerous for you."

"This never happened at the club before!" Axel shouted back, "This is the first time this has happened since I was able to get away from my uncle!" He froze at what he just said and could see shocked blue eyes looking at him. Never before had he told anyone what had happened and now, after years of keeping it secret, he let it slip. He bit his lower lip and looked away knowing that Roxas was going to think he was disgusting now. He was expecting Roxas to shout at him, to get out, but instead Roxas hugged him. Even more shocking, the blonde was crying.

"I'm sorry Axel," Roxas sobbed. He felt so stupid for crying because if anyone should be crying it should be Axel. Yet here he was, crying. He couldn't imagine how hard the redhead's life must have been. First his parents dying in a car crash, then having to live with an uncle that abused him. He wanted to make everything better for the redhead, but he didn't know how. All he could do was hug him because whenever he was upset his family would hug him.

"It's in the past," the redhead sighed. "No use crying over things that are already done." It was what he kept telling himself even if the nightmare came back. There was nothing anyone could do about the past, he just had to live with it.

"I know, but.." the blonde sniffled pulling back from the hug to wipe the tears away, "no one should have to go through that. Especially you." Axel sighed as he helped the blonde wipe away the tears. Someone as nice as Roxas shouldn't be crying for him.

"It happens all the time," he said with a sad smile.

"I know," Roxas sighed, "but I don't want you working at the club anymore. That man will probably come back." Axel frowned.

"What are you my mother?" he said, "I don't really have much of a choice anyways. It is a good paying job and they are hard to find."

"Fine, I'll call one of my former bodyguards to come protect you." the blonde said stubbornly. Axel was about to ask about the bodyguards, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"That must be Olette," Roxas sighed as he went to the door to open it for her. Even though she looked sleepy, she looked determined about something and walked over to Axel immediately. She started pressing on different parts of the now fully developed bruise causing the redhead to hiss in pain.

"Sorry," the brunette apologized with a small smile, "I know it hurts, but I need to check that nothing is dislocated, broken or fractured." She examined it some more earning a few more hisses, but she nodded with a smile. "Everything looks good, but you do have a nice bruise. Should be easy to cover up with the right make-up."

"Well at least everything is okay," she yawned, "If you want to talk to me about anything Axel feel free. Of course you can talk to Roxas too. I'm going to go back to bed and if anything else happened just give me a call." She gave the two males a smile before leaving.

"We should probably go to bed too." the blonde yawned. "you can sleep in the bed."

"It is your dorm, you sleep in the bed." Axel argued not liking the idea of Roxas sleeping on the sofa. This earned him an annoyed look from the blonde, but he returned it right back with one of his own. Roxas saw this wasn't going to go anywhere so instead he figured he could offer a solution.

"We could both sleep in the bed." he offered, "the bed is a king size, enough room for both of us. We'll just sleep on one side." Axel had no argument that could get him out of the situation, besides he shared a queen with Demyx who always moved in sleep.

"Fine," he answered with a yawn. Neither even bothered to get changed because the sound of sleep was so promising. Axel took the left side so he could sleep on the right side of his face and have his back to Roxas. Everything that had happened in the past few days had surprised him. Sure he had met the boy a while ago at the beginning of the semester, but to get so close to boy within a few days didn't make sense. With a heavy sigh he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: ** Woweee! that was a long chapter!

Anyways, I could have broken this into two maybe three chapters if I wanted to considering it is 18,600 long, but I didn't. XD hahahahahahahaha read my book sized chapter. well, I'm sure a book is longer. Anyways, thank you for waiting. Sorry if there is anything wrong, I really didn't want to reread this monster more than I already have. There are probably more errors towards the end. Sorryyyyyy

Enjoy! Don't forget to review please. :) It inspires me to write more!

*goes to ice fingers since they hurt so much from typing.*


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